Man is charged in road-rage killing of young Independence father: court records
A 32-year-old man was arrested Friday on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a young father, a shooting that unfolded on an Independence highway three weeks ago.
Joshua A. Mongold, of Independence, faces four felonies in Jackson County Circuit Court in the killing of Riley Youngblood, Jackson County prosecutors said. Mongold is charged with second degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
The fatal shooting unfolded on the morning of Jan. 20 on U.S. Highway 40. Police were first called to the area after a person reported finding Younglood slumped over the wheel of his pickup truck, which had ended up in a wooden median along the highway near Valley View Road.
Youngblood, 23, had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. His window and 2020 Chevrolet Silverado were riddled with bullet holes. Emergency medical workers rushed him to an area hospital, where he died four days later.
Using surveillance cameras along the highway, investigators determined that sometime shortly before 8 a.m. Youngblood had been involved in a minor crash involving another pickup truck. Both vehicles were seen traveling along the highway for a short distance. One’s passenger-side window was rolled down shortly before Youngblood’s vehicle began to slow and the other sped up, a detective wrote in a probable cause statement.
After sharing photographs of the pickup truck with the public, police received a tip saying one matching its description had been seen at a nearby auto body shop. Detectives learned the pickup was registered to Mongold, and he worked for the shop, according to court records.
During an interview with police on Jan. 25, Mongold allegedly told police he had gone to work as usual that morning and nothing significant had occurred. At the time, police were unable to locate the pickup connected to the shooting.
But police later found the suspected truck on a heavily wooded property in Cross Timbers, Missouri, roughly 176 miles away from Mongold’s home address. It was seized along with a GMC Sierra also registered in Mongold’s name.
Inside the locked glove compartment of one vehicle investigators found a Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol loaded with hollow-point rounds. The gun was tested against bullets recovered through Youngblood’s autopsy and vehicle and found to be a match, according to court records.
Mongold was arrested Friday by members of the Independence SWAT team in Cass County, according to police.
During an earlier interview with The Star, Youngblood’s family described him as a loving, devoted and hard-working man. He left behind a 22-year-old girlfriend, Kali, and their seven-month-old daughter, Kendall.
The Star’s Matti Lee Gellman contributed to this report.
