Tinestta Young, 50, was found dead early on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, inside a burning home in the unit block of South Morley Street in Baltimore. On Wednesday, April 24, 2019, her death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists her death as a homicide.
According to police, firefighters were called just before 1 a.m. on March 6 to the home for a fire.
After they put it out, they found Young unresponsive, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The Baltimore Sun later reported that her body was found "on the second floor of a burning home." Medical examiners, police said, "immediately discovered signs that she did not die as a result of the fire," and the medical examiner's office concluded that the cause of death was asphyxiation.
Neighbors who knew Young were stunned. One neighbor told WBAL-TV, "As far as I know, she's a hardworking lady. Seem to never had no problems with anybody." Another said, "I'm in shock in shock because you wouldn't think something like this would happen."
In late April 2019, police arrested a suspect and charged that person with first-degree murder and first-degree arson. Police said at the time that a motive had not been determined. The case moved slowly through the courts, with multiple postponements, and went to a bench trial in the summer of 2022. In August 2022, Circuit Judge John Nugent found the defendant not guilty of all charges related to Young's death.
The trial exposed a sharp dispute about how Young died. Fox45 reported that while the medical examiner determined she died from asphyxiation, "other doctors determined she died from thermal injuries and smoke inhalation." A fire expert who testified for the defense said it was likely that Young had been smoking in bed and started the fire by accident. Defense lawyers had also argued that investigators found no signs of accelerants, flammable liquids or foul play. The medical examiner's homicide ruling, however, is what places her death in the Sun's database, and the acquittal left the question of what happened inside the house without an answer in court.
The Baltimore Sun described the block as being in "the Saint Joseph's neighborhood of South Baltimore." South Morley Street is a short residential street of rowhouses, the kind of close-set block where neighbors often know one another by sight.
After the unrest of 2015, Baltimore recorded more than 300 homicides a year for eight straight years, and the share of killings that ended in an arrest fell sharply.
No conviction connected to the death of Tinestta Young could be found in news archives or public records; the only person charged was acquitted. More than seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near South Morley Street in March 2019, or who spoke with Young in the days before the fire, may know something that could help settle what happened that night. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call Baltimore Police homicide detectives at 410-396-2100, or leave an anonymous tip with Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland at 1-866-7LOCKUP (1-866-756-2587).
