Texas man sentenced in brutal murder of girlfriend whose body was found under couch with throat slit
Anthony Young and Laurel Schick met at Narcotics Anonymous and planned to marry
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Texas man convicted of murdering his girlfriend and hiding her body under a couch has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, officials said Wednesday.
Anthony Young, 45, pleaded guilty last month to the murder 65-year-old Laurel Schick in January 2021, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said.
Young had met Schick at Narcotics Anonymous, and the couple eventually became engaged, according to officials. However, the wedding was called off after the couple spent most of Schick’s money on illegal drugs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On the weekend when the wedding was supposed to take place, neighbors heard yelling and the sounds of glass and tables being broken in the couple’s apartment, prosecutors said.
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Anthony Young, 45, was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison for the brutal murder of his girlfriend, Laurel Schick, in January 2021. He pleaded guilty to the murder last month. (Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office )
Police responded on the following Monday for a welfare check and found broken furniture and glass inside the apartment. Schick’s body – bruised and bloodied – was found under a couch.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Schick’s cause of death was listed as violent blunt force trauma to the head, the Tarrant County medical examiner said at the time.
Young was high on methamphetamine at the time of the murder, and detectives said he appeared to "have no sympathy, care or sadness in the fact that Schick was deceased" during an interrogation, KTVT reported.
Young beat Schick and slit her throat before leaving her body underneath a couch in their apartment. Police later discovered Schick's body during a welfare check. (Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. )
"You took an old woman and used her, … beat the hell out of her," Sam McElwee, one of Schick’s sons, told Young at the sentencing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Schick’s other son, Thomas McElwee, told Young, "You stole so much from so many people. What did she do that was so bad that you had to bash her head in and cut her throat?"
Her younger brother, Paul, wrote a letter, which was read in court and described his sister as a "beautiful soul."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I ache inside that I was unable to protect her," the letter read.