Woman sentenced to life in prison for 2010 double murder

EMINENCE, Mo. -- A Doniphan, Mo., woman on Monday was sentenced to life in prison for the 2010 murder of an elderly couple found dead inside their burned home.

Presiding Circuit Judge David Evans sentenced Melissa "Lisa" Youngblood to life imprisonment, without the possibility of probation or parole, on two counts of first-degree murder and ordered the sentences to run concurrently, according to a court official.

The 35-year-old was convicted Jan. 31 by a Shannon County jury in connection with the July 10, 2010, deaths of Edgar Atkinson, 81, and Bonnie Chase, 69.

The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for nearly five hours and after hearing three days of testimony, which included 24 witnesses for the prosecution and four for the defense.

During the trial, the jury heard how the bodies of Atkinson and Chase were found in their burning Current View, Mo., home. An autopsy determined Atkinson died of gunshot wounds to the head and upper torso. A cause of death for Chase was not immediately known.

Investigators said that on July 16, 2010, they uncovered information implicating Melissa Youngblood, as well as her husband, David A. Youngblood, her daughter, Chantale Youngblood, and her daughter's then boyfriend, Keith Boyles, in the deaths.

David Youngblood, his 20-year-old daughter and Boyles, 20, also were charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two unclassified felonies of armed criminal action for their alleged roles in the deaths.

The father and daughter, as well as Boyles, also were charged with two additional counts of first-degree murder and two unclassified felonies of armed criminal action in the killing of David Youngblood's aunt and uncle, Gladys Irene Piatt, 80, and Loyd Eugene Piatt, 77. The Piatts were found dead inside their rural Doniphan home June 23, 2010.

In June, David Youngblood, 48, pleaded guilty to the four counts of first-degree murder. He is serving consecutive life sentences on each charge and is not eligible for probation or parole.

The armed criminal action charges were dismissed at the time of David Youngblood's plea and sentencing.

Boyles appeared earlier this month before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett in Butler County for a motions hearing in his case.

During the hearing, testimony was set to begin in Boyles' trial on May 5, 2014. A jury will be selected from Ste. Genevieve County on May 1 and 2, 2014, to hear the case in Butler County.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Boyles.

Chantale Youngblood, who earlier was granted a change of venue to Franklin County in her case, is to stand trial July 29 through Aug. 2 before Presiding Circuit Judge Gael Wood.

Pertinent address:

Eminence, Mo.

Doniphan, Mo.

Current View, Mo.