James Rickey Boughton, Jr. - Age 19

Details of The Case from the Local Media

On January 2, 2006, in the Deep Creek area of Chesapeake, Virginia, two Mormon Missionaries, who were going door to door, were gunned down at about 6:00 p.m., eastern standard time (dusk), on a public street by 19-year-old James Rickey Boughton, Jr. One of the missionaries, Morgan Winslow Young, died from his wounds. Boughton was arrested Wednesday. He is charged with first-degree murder, malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding and three counts of using a gun during the commission of those felonies.

The following article was posted on the website of the local television station nbc4.com:

Man Shoots Two Mormons Going Door To Door

POSTED: 7:57 am EST January 3, 2006

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- A Mormon missionary going door to door was fatally shot Monday night and a fellow missionary was wounded by an assailant who fled, police said.

The attacks happened just after 6 p.m. in the Deep Creek area of the city, police said, when a man approached the two, shot them and ran away.

One of the victims ran to a nearby nursing home seeking help, police said.

The missionaries were identified by church spokesmen Dale Bills and Michael Purdy as Elders Morgan Young, 21, of Bountiful, Utah, and Joshua Heidbrink of Greeley, Colo. Chesapeake police said he is 19.

They were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where Young later died, spokeswoman Cheri Hinshelwood said. Heidbrink was upgraded to good condition Tuesday morning, she said.

Police described the gunman as a black male about 5 feet 10 inches . They said he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and denim jeans.

Police shut down part of the neighborhood while searching for the man.

"This is close to home," said Bobby Gatling, who said he has lived on the block for two years. "Nothing like this has ever happened here before."

There was no immediate word on what prompted the shootings.

The following article appeared on the website of the local television station, Hampton Roads, News Channel 3:

Jan 6, 2006, 08:10 PM EST Site Features

Search Warrant Reveals More About Missionary's Murder


The young man accused of shooting two missionaries, killing one has even more legal problems than we first thought.

19-year-old James Boughton, Jr appeared in court again on Friday. This time, it had nothing to do with the missionary shootings.

Boughton is facing felony drug charges in another case. The judge set that trial date for February 14th. Meanwhile documents filed late Friday in Chesapeake Circuit Court give us a better idea of just what happened the night 21 year old Morgan Young was murdered.

Gregory Lamont Banks Jr, told police that he and Boughton were fighting about six o'clock Monday night near Elkhardt Street.

Banks says Boughton broke free, pulled out a gun and fired one time at him. Banks said he pretended he was dead and Boughton ran off, but seconds later Banks heard two or three more shots.

Banks says he got up, just in time to see missionary Joshua Heidbrink running in his direction. He says Heidbrink had been shot, so he helped him get to the nursing home across the street where someone called 911.

When police arrived, they found 21 year old Morgan Young lying in the street. Tracking dogs were brought out to the scene and police recovered a skull cap and a sweatshirt that Boughton would later admit were probably his.

Boughton also told police he was in the vicinity of Elkhardt Street about the same time the shots were fired. James Boughton is currently being held in the Chesapeake jail, without bond.
 

Morgan W. Young - Age 21

Comment:

One lesson that I have learned is that it is best to be off the streets at dusk in neighborhoods that are either all Black or racially mixed - and this applies to all parts of the country. These two young missionaries had done their laundry and taken some time off on Monday, as is the Mormon custom for missionaries. They set out in late afternoon to go proselytizing door to door in a racially mixed neighborhood. The Mormons have a 9:30 curfew for missionaries, but I would advise them to change that to dusk - meaning that, depending on the time of year, the curfew-time would vary.

The Mormon policy states that if there is any question of safety that the missionaries are told to be in before dark. I think that when you are going door to door in a Black or a racially-mixed neighborhood, there is clearly a question about your safety. It is one thing to be cavalier and say that he did the right thing and that he was ambitious, and that he died doing the type of work that he loved to do - but, it would have served these young missionaries well to have known something about human nature and also something about the Black mentality. I lived in the south for many years and it was my experience that Black behavior changed markedly after nightfall.

As a matter of fact, many Blacks, especially young ones, either sleep or laze around all day, especially in the summer, and they just come out on the street at dusk, and they stay out until the wee hours of the morning. And, unfortunately, many of these Blacks are just looking for trouble. The Mormons in Utah live in communities that are much different than those of the areas that they do their missionary work in. They are therefore very trusting and would never suspect that someone would shoot them down on a public street for no reason at all.

In a statement to the Salt Lake Tribune, the victim's mother, Kathy Young, flippantly remarked that her son "just had a transfer was all." When I read the story headline, I thought that Morgan Young had been transferred to another part of the country and that he was unfortunately killed before he could move. But I was wrong. Mrs. Young meant that her son had been transferred to heaven! I find such a remark shocking! This is part of the answer to why this country has let the Black crime situation escalate as much as it has. Victims' families, relatives and friends are not responding in a rational and realistic way. In the same interview (a press conference on their front lawn), Mrs. Young also said that she had no anger toward the young man who killed her son. She said she was grieving, but that she was proud that her son died with his boots on. I can only conclude that her thinking is nothing short of delusional, fatalistic and nihilistic. I say nihilistic, because the customary beliefs of morality and religion involve holding people responsible for their actions. Mrs. Young is rejecting those beliefs. She is rejecting one of the ten commandments: "Thou shalt not kill."

No other religion on the face of this planet would so easily forgive the killing of one of their own by a common thug from a race of people that is not taking crime seriously - a race of people whose beliefs in morality seem to differ considerably from the mainstream of American society. Other religions would at least demand justice for the individual who committed the murder. And, as a society, I think that we must demand responsibility from the Black community  If it were up to Mrs. Young, she would probably let the killer go free. It is certainly a good thing that people with Mrs. Young's outlook do not make and carry out the laws of this country. Too many parents in America are ready to let the lives of their sons and daughters be taken from them too easily. Let's just hope that the parents and friends of Jennifer Ross do not let the Black community of Savannah, Georgia get off so lightly. This is not just an individual matter; the problem lies, to a great extent, with the Black community, which is refusing to take crime in their communities seriously. It is high time that all other racial and ethnic groups in America start putting pressure on the Black community to get serious about crime.

And furthermore, the Mormon Church should train their missionaries to be wary of Black males who approach them, and they should instruct them that they should immediately look to see if the Black male has a weapon. If it is too late to flee, then they have to take quick and decisive action to defend themselves. This advice isn't just meant for missionaries, but for everyone in our society. Black males have proven themselves to be very aggressive and they are not above shooting someone down for little or no reason at all. Be alert and be aware of your surroundings, and stay off the streets at dusk or after dark in Black or racially mixed neighborhoods. Sometimes you don't get a second chance.

Yours Faithfully, Liberty