An elderly South Bend man convicted of killing a 27-year-old man he had never met before is appealing his murder conviction.
71-year-old Michael Young was sentenced to 50 years in prison for shooting and killing 27-year-old Markest Flowers on May 31, 2016.
Young admitted to shooting Flowers because he was sticking up for a friend who told him she had been harassed by a black man in a red shirt. Young also admitted to searching for someone fitting that description and Flowers just so happened to be the first person he saw that matched it. The two got into an argument, Young said he felt threatened, and shot Flowers as a result.
Young never denied he shot Flowers, but the South Bend Tribune reports that he’s appealing his conviction because he feels prosecutors are wrong in saying the shooting was racially-motivated and also gave a false image of the victim’s character.
