Ellis Smith

Victim’s sister distraught over decision

    Nearly 28 years after two Newton County residents admitted to kidnapping and brutally murdering a Pearl woman, a judge has signed off on their release, over objections from the victim’s sister.

    In March 1987, Ellis Earl Smith of Union and Judith Sharp Smith of Newton were charged with kidnapping and capital murder in connection with the shooting death of Alice “Virginia” Young of Pearl. Young, a 42-year old beautician, had last been seen at a hotel in Jackson. On March 17, 1987, five days after she was reported missing, Young’s body was found floating in the Chunky River.     

    The coroner said she had been shot with a .22 caliber pistol in the back of the head, according to published reports. Young’s husband, Carl Ray Young, was also charged with capital murder in the case.

    After pleading guilty that November, both Ellis Smith and Judy Smith received identical sentences: 20 years for the kidnapping and life in prison for the murder. Carl Ray Young later pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

    Now, 28 years later, Ellis Earl Smith and Judy Sharp Smith are scheduled to be released soon. Both remained incarcerated Friday afternoon, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

    After being denied parole several times, Circuit Court Judge Vernon Cotten signed off on their conditional releases in an Oct. 5 release order.

    That doesn’t sit well with Virginia Young’s sister, Francis Ross.

    “This judge has just ignored everyone else and said ‘turn them loose,'” Ross said.  “They put a bullet behind her right ear and blew her brains out.”

    “I can’t tell you what it did to me, not to mention my family,” she said. “We have cried a river. We were a close family. We all love each other. It won’t ever go away. I didn’t shut my eyes that night. We had to go tell my sister’s boy she was dead. We had to go tell my mama and daddy she was dead.”

     “She was a year and a half older than me,” Ross recalls. “She was only 42 when they killed her, just a young woman. We were very close. People used to think we were twins, we looked so much alike. I don’t know how we wouldn’t be close.”

     All these years later, Ross still remembers the brutality of the murder.

    “They broke a hammer handle on her head beating her, then they put a bullet behind her right ear,” Ross said. “Then they stripped her jewelry and threw her in the Chunky River. She stayed in the river for five days before she was ever found.”

    Parole for the Smiths has been denied several times, Ross said. She said she appeared before the parole board each time, but was not included in the recent court proceedings leading up to the release order.     “Not one word-they didn’t give us any say-so in this,” she said.

    A November 1987 article published in The Newton Record documented the court proceedings. Judy Smith told the court that she had been seeing Carl Ray Young for a while, but Young’s wife, Virginia, would not give him a divorce. Judy Smith said that Young told her his only choice was to “get rid of her.”

    During the court proceedings, Judy Smith said she and Ellis Smith abducted Young from a hotel in Jackson and that during a drive toward Newton County, Ellis Smith hit Young in the head with a hammer. Judy Smith said Ellis Smith shot Young and they dumped her body in the Chunky River, according to the article.

“Model Prisoner”

    In August 2014, the Smiths each filed petitions for release in Newton County Circuit Court, citing their ages and conduct while in prison.

     Both cited a state law that allows for conditional release of an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment who has reached the age of 65 and who has served at least 15 years of their sentence.

    “(I) have extreme remorse for the crime,” Ellis Smith, now 67, wrote in his petition.

    In court papers, Judy Smith, now 69, wrote “in November 2013, the Parole Board commended me for being a model prisoner … yet my parole was denied.”

    “My record while being incarcerated has been exceptional,” she wrote, adding “I have been classified disabled for the past five years. My medical conditions include hypertension, acid reflux, idiopathic neuropathy of feet and lower legs, arthritis and permanent damage to my left hand. Medical treatment at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility is inadequate, with treatment only given for my hypertension.”

    “I have been totally rehabilitated and am no threat to society,” Judy Smith wrote, adding, “I have an outstanding and devoted group of family and friends who are committed to supporting me financially and emotionally.”

    The cases were first assigned to Circuit Court Judge Marcus Gordon, who recused himself because he is distantly related to Judy Smith. The case was then assigned to Cotten.

    “The court acknowledges that (Mr. Smith) meets the statutory requirements for conditional release,” Cotten wrote in a Sept. 14 order. “The court acknowledges he has expressed extreme remorse for his crimes, has been a model inmate, and has exhibited an exemplary work record. The court further acknowledges that he has the support of numerous family members who are will to provide assistance should he be released.”

    The order to release Judy Smith mirrors the Ellis Smith order, and notes her health issues.

    A second order, signed Oct. 5, lays out the conditions of their releases, essentially ordering the Smiths to stay sober and out of trouble.

    That’s still not good enough for Ross, who would like to see them stay in prison for life.

    “I’ve pretty much reconciled what I’ve got coming,” she said. “But I’ve been told that once they get out, it will be pretty rough on them. I hope they get what they deserve. It’s God’s call and not mine anymore. I can’t do anything about it.”

    “If you’ve never been through it, you don’t have a clue,” she said. “My parents died with a broken heart.”

    Attempts to reach Cotten were unsuccessful.