A Brooklyn man is on trial this week for allegedly murdering a rock musician during a sex-and-drugs-hookup, later stealing his guitar.
27-year-old Tyshawn Augustus is accused of shooting up-and-coming rocker Troy Young to death in Young's Carroll Gardens apartment in December of 2009. Prosecutors alleged in court yesterday that Young, a native of Idaho and a member of bands the Spines and Curious Mishap, and Augustus had "met for the purpose of engaging in sex for drugs"; according to assistant district attorney James Leeper, Augustus instead shot Young in the shoulder and made off with the musician's Fender Sunburst guitar. The bullet ended up lodged in the 29-year-old Young's heart, killing him.
Though investigators were initially unsure as to how Young met his untimely end, police say a witness named Moses Aponte told them Augustus planned to rob his alleged victim. "The defendant came to his apartment and said some guy wants to have sex with me but I'm going to rob him instead," Leeper said in court on Tuesday. Prosecutors say they also found Young's DNA under Augustus' fingernails after the musician's death.
"There are no words. I wish they had the death penalty," Young's sister Allison, who sat with the rest of his family in court yesterday, told the Post. Augustus was arrested in November 2012, three years after Young's death.
