A West Ashley woman whose ex-husband is on trial for killing her paramour feared the defendant would kill her, according to testimony presented to a Charleston County jury.
Algernard Devincent Young, 43, is on trial on charges including murder in the slaying of 40-year-old David Alston. The victim was fatally shot in 2019 in the parking lot of Ashley Oaks, an apartment complex in West Ashley.
Alston was in a romantic relationship with Gladys Singleton, who had divorced Young a month before the shooting. Police had charged Young earlier that year with domestic violence.
Charleston police responded after 1:20 a.m. on Nov. 16, 2023, to 78 Ashley Hall Plantation Road to a report of gunshots. Responding officers observed Alston lying face down in the parking lot between two vehicles. He suffered two gunshot wounds to the back of the head.
Singleton, who heard gunshots outside her apartment, dialed 911. She told dispatch that “someone was out there shooting.” Moments later, she identified the shooter to responding police as her ex-husband.
Algernard Young. Charleston County Sheriff’s Office/Provided.
Body camera footage displayed on the courtroom’s projector showed Singleton hysterical on the ground outside of her building.
“He killed him,” she said through sobs and shrieks. “Y’all believe he’ll kill me too. I can’t stay here.”
Singleton, seated in the courtroom’s gallery in a white blouse, wiped her eyes as the video played.
The jury also heard from Sgt. Beth Wolfsen, who was the first Charleston police detective to arrive on scene. Wolfsen recalled interviewing Singleton in the hours after the shooting.
“I’ve been doing this for 13 years,” Wolfsen testified. “She was more scared than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
Police have been unable to locate a murder weapon, eye-witnesses or video evidence of the shooting. They found gun shot residue on the defendant’s hands, but his attorneys suggested a number of ways it could have gotten there. Two of Young’s phones that police seized were in North Charleston at the time of the shooting.
Attorney Nathan Williams, who is representing Young along with Shaun Kent, questioned detectives on the stand June 7 about why they chose to not pursue certain leads in the case that did not pertain to Young.
“You already made up your mind,” the attorney suggested.
Charleston police earlier that year had accused Young of using violence against Singleton.
At the time, Young and Singleton, who had a longstanding relationship before they married in 2017, were separated. She told police in January 2019 that Young stalked her and threatened to shoot her with a gun if she screamed for help. He repeatedly punched and kicked her, Singleton told police, who charged him with domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature.
Singleton tried to create a fresh start. She divorced Young, took out a protection order against her ex and began seeing a new man, Alston. But she couldn’t escape Young, who prosecutors allege made threats against her new boyfriend.
Singleton said she heard her ex-husband outside of her apartment door minutes before the shooting. Young repeatedly called her after the shooting, and after 3 a.m. he showed up at her apartment complex, where police arrested him.
Young’s attorneys said prosecutors were distorting the once-married couple’s interactions. Singleton had called her ex-husband for help days before the shooting, Williams said, because she was in danger.
Young has been jailed for more than 3.5 years awaiting trial. He has been present in the courtroom, supported by family members, since the trial began June 5.