No criminal charges will be
filed against Sgt. Amy Young in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Officer
Luis Monroig, who shot her and then himself
By Jessica Lipscomb, Ryan Mills
Naples Daily News
NAPLES, Fla. — No criminal
charges will be filed against Naples police Sgt. Amy Young in the shooting
death of her boyfriend, Officer Luis "Dave" Monroig, the State
Attorney's Office announced October 30.
Monroig was fatally shot July 9
during a domestic dispute at Young's Estero home. Young was shot in the face
but survived.
Officer involved in fatal cop couple shooting
to get gun backOfficer involved in fatal cop shooting still in ICUFla. cop
couple's dispute leaves 1 dead, 1 wounded "After our review of the
investigation and consideration of applicable Florida law, we have determined
that no charges will be filed in this matter," State Attorney's Office
spokeswoman Samantha Syoen said in a statement.
Monroig shot Young then killed
himself, a State Attorney's Office investigation found. Still, investigators
said "why he fired the shot that wounded Young is unknown."
From early on, Young's
attorney, Donald Day, has said Young committed no crime.
"We found out about the
investigation earlier today, but of course it was no surprise to us because we
knew what happened," he said Thursday.
A three-page memo gives the
following account of the hours leading up to the shooting:
On Tuesday, July 8, Young
returned to her home in the Lakes of Estero community after a night out with
friends. A witness told the Lee County Sheriff's Office that Young had driven
home and appeared to be intoxicated.
Upon Young's return, she and
Monroig were involved in an altercation in the front yard. It's unclear from
reports if the altercation was verbal or physical.
Both Young and Monroig had been
drinking. Young tested positive for alcohol and benzodiazepine, which can be
found in anxiety medications, and Monroig had been drinking while at home.
Young said as the argument
escalated, she was pushed to the ground, hit her head and passed out. After
regaining consciousness, Young said Monroig was still upset with her. She said
she became afraid and grabbed her police-issued gun from the nightstand.
Young said Monroig yelled,
"Really, Amy!" and sometime after that, shots were fired. Young could
not recall how she was shot but remembered waking up on the bedroom floor next
to Monroig, who was dead.
Young eventually was able to
drag herself out of the bedroom and out the front door, where she was found by
her daughter, who called 911. Six of the couple's children from previous
marriages were at the home that night.
Investigators found that
Monroig, who was left handed, had gunshot residue on his left hand and suffered
a gunshot wound to the left side of his head. Dr. Robert Pfalzgraf, the Lee
County medical examiner, ruled the death a suicide.
A crime scene investigation
found Young was shot on the left side of her head, with the wound showing a
downward trajectory from above her left ear to her chin.
Monroig's police-issued Walther
PPS 40-caliber semi-automatic firearm was the only weapon in the home that had
been fired that night, investigators said.
Records show Monroig had been
secretly recording his phone calls, including those the night of July 8. State
Attorney's officials said they could not release the recordings because of
Florida law but said it was clear "that Monroig sounded angry and became
increasingly irate as time passed."
Had Monroig lived, there was
evidence that could have led to an attempted murder charge, according to the
Sheriff's Office. In light of his death, the case has been closed.
Young allowed herself to be
interviewed only once before invoking her right to an attorney. After that, she
refused requests for interviews and for walk-throughs of the crime scene,
according to reports.
After her first statement,
Young was "medically incapacitated" and still recovering from the
shooting, Day said.
"We didn't feel it was
appropriate to have her give a second statement," he said. "She'd
already given a full statement and fully cooperated."
But Ray Bass, an attorney
representing Monroig's ex-wife Nina Diaz-Monroig, said he found it concerning
that Young refused to be interviewed more than once.
"I do know this: When
someone stops involvement with a police investigation, that's a red flag,"
he said. "Whether that person has a lawyer or not, it's a red flag, and
that flag's still waving as far as I can tell."
Bass raised the possibility that Monroig fired
his weapon in self-defense, stressing the State Attorney's conclusion that it
was unclear why Young was shot.
Bass, a former Collier County
Sheriff's Office investigator, said he was unable to get in touch with Diaz-Monroig
October 30. Attempts to reach Diaz-Monroig for comment at her Marco Island home
were unsuccessful.
No one answered the door
October 30 at Young's Estero house. Neighbors said Young has been back in her
home for a couple of months.
"She still feels terribly
about this," Day said. "They lived together as a family and she's
worried about what impact this will have on the children."
Naples Mayor John Sorey said it
has not been good having a cloud of suspicion hanging over Young for the better
part of four months.
But he said he respects the
Sheriff's Office's and the State Attorney's Office's process.
"I would have liked to
have it a lot sooner to get this behind us, but it is what it is," Sorey
said.
He said he is concerned about
allegations in the report that Young had been drinking and driving before the
shooting.
"Obviously we don't have
as a society any tolerance for drinking and driving," Sorey said.
"Hopefully the hospital did a blood alcohol analysis."
Day said the witness's
depiction of Young driving while intoxicated is inaccurate. Any medications
found in her system were legally prescribed, he said.
Naples Police Chief Tom
Weschler reviewed the State Attorney's Office memo and said he stands behind
the Sheriff's Office investigation, although he had not seen a full report.
"The next step for us will
be to actually get a copy of the report and review that," he said.
"We'll be looking to see if there are any administrative issues in that
report that need to be addressed."
Young remains on leave from the
department. Weschler said he hasn't spoken to her since before the shooting.
The city's human resources department is continuing with its fitness for duty
examination, he said.
Day said he expects Young will
be fully reinstated.
"There were a lot of
negative things said and people jumped to a lot of conclusions, but it turns
out she was in fact the victim here," Day said.
The announcement is an
opportunity for the department and its officers to start putting the shooting
behind them, Weschler said.
"There's no win in
this," he said. "It's all about the families and their hopefully
having the ability to move forward."
