The former roommate of an Augusta man who died of stab wounds to the chest in June was arrested Thursday night in Key West, Fla., on a murder charge.

Michael Lee Thomas Young, 40, was picked up by Key West police on a warrant from Maine. Young’s arrest marked the first time that authorities have publicly identified him as a suspect or referred to the stabbing as a homicide.

“He was found hiding in a shower at the Poinciana Trailer Park,” Alyson Crean, public information officer for the Key West police, said in a prepared statement.

Young is accused of killing David Cox, 46, an Army veteran, in the apartment they shared on Green Street on June 11. Young and Cox had lived in the apartment building for two years, and neighbors who were interviewed after the stabbing painted a picture of a turbulent same-sex relationship between the men.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said Friday that Young was indicted a few weeks ago by a grand jury in Kennebec County. The indictment remained sealed Friday.

Crean said detectives were notified by Maine State Police about 10 a.m. Thursday that Young might be in Key West and arrested him about 6 p.m.

McCausland said arrangements were being made for a state police detective and an Augusta detective to extradite Young back to Maine.

He said Young probably will have to appear in a Florida court first. Once back in Maine, Young will be arraigned in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Investigators previously refused to classify Cox’s death as a crime, even after an autopsy revealed that he died of a stab wound to the chest.

Young called 911 early that morning to report Cox’s death and was described as cooperative when interviewed by police.

One neighbor said at the time that he frequently heard the men arguing, most recently on the night before Cox’s body was found.

Augusta police arrested Young two days after Cox’s death on two outstanding warrants, charging failure to pay fines for possessing drugs and driving without a license. He had a court hearing, arranged a payment plan for the fines and was released.

Authorities said Cox moved to the state about two years before his death.

He served in the Army from 1986 to 1988 and received an honorable discharge.

Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at: badams@centralmaine.com

 

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