Man charged with murder had pieces of missing woman in his apartment, Michigan cops say
About a month after a 31-year-old woman was killed and cut into pieces, a man she was friends with has been charged with murdering her, WZZM in Michigan reported.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s office filed charges of open murder and tampering with evidence against Jared Chance on Jan. 2, WZZM reported. He has also been charged with mutilation of a dead body and concealing the death of a person,” the Holland Sentinel reported.
Those charges are in connection with the death of Ashley Young, of Michigan, WOOD reported. An open murder charge means the jury will decide if Chance is guilty of premeditated or non-meditated murder, the Sentinel reported.
Young was last seen with Chance early Nov. 29 in a Grand Rapids neighborhood, her family said, according to WOOD. Police believe Chance mutilated Young’s body on Nov. 30, WOOD reported.
Two days later, on Dec. 2, one of Chance’s neighbors found the woman’s torso in a shared apartment-complex basement, the Sentinel reported. More of her body parts were found in Chance’s apartment, according to the newspaper.
Investigators said they found “evidence of her dismemberment” in Chance’s upstairs apartment, WKZO reported, but police have not released a cause of death.
If convicted of murder, Chance faces life in prison, the Sentinel reported.
Following Chance’s arrest, his parents were also charged in connection to the case, Michigan Live reported. Barbara Louise Chance, 63, and James Howard Chance, 76, were charged with accessory after the fact and committing perjury, the newspaper reported.
The couple “learned from Jared James Chance that Jared cut Ashley Young’s body into multiple pieces and hid some of those pieces,’’ court documents said, according to WZZN. That was on Dec. 1 — one day before her body parts were found — and they did not alert police, the station reported off of obtained court documents.
Barbara Chance told 24 Hour News 8 that she and her husband did call police, WOOD reported, and James Chance told the station they turned their son in. Police didn’t comment on the ongoing investigation, WOOD reported.
“An attorney for the couple (said) James Chance took his son to a Grand Rapids police station to make just such a report and the family was told to report to Kalamazoo County authorities, who were handling what was then the disappearance of Ashley Young,” WHTC reported. Their son was arrested that next day.
“I’m not guilty of (the charges),” James Howard Chance said during his arraignment, Michigan Live reported. The man is a retired Illinois police officer.
Perjury convictions have a maximum of 15 years in prison, according to the Michigan Penal Code.