Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced today that the 18-year-old Albany man who purposely beat a woman so severely that it caused her to lose her unborn child has been sentenced to state prison.
Tylique Young was sentenced by the Honorable Andra Ackerman Tuesday to serve 20 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty in September to a five-count indictment that charged him with Assault in the First Degree – Intent to Disfigure, Dismember or Disable, Assault in the First Degree – Intent to Cause Serious Injury With a Weapon, Kidnapping in the Second Degree, and two counts of Robbery in the Third Degree.
Ackerman also denied Young youthful offender status after sentencing.
Over the course of several hours on the night of May 15 and early morning of May 16, Young held his girlfriend, 19, in his apartment bedroom on Orange Street, stole her cellphone and struck her numerous times in the abdomen with a hammer.
The victim was 27 weeks pregnant and suffered a ruptured placenta, thereby causing the death of her unborn child and requiring emergency medical treatment at Albany Medical Center Hospital.
Young, who was the father of the child, threatened the victim for months that he planned to kill her and the baby and burn her house down.
As she delivered a statement to the court, the victim positioned a photo of her baby at her feet.
“This was not an accident. This was not a misunderstanding. This was done on purpose,” she said. “You took away so many moments I could’ve had with him. I won’t ever get to teach him how to read … how to ride a bike or even watch him graduate. Most importantly, I won’t ever get to hear him call me mom.”
Assistant District Attorney Ariel Fallon, Bureau Chief of the Special Victims Unit, said this was “the most horrific and heart-breaking case” she’s handled in her 13 years as prosecutor.
“This is a pain the victim will live with the rest of her life, even if she chooses one day to become a mother again, this will always be her first-born,” Fallon said. “The Albany Police Department did a tremendous amount of work to figure out what happened, and the sheer bravery of this victim to come forward and tell her story is incredible. For 12 hours, she endured physical and emotional horror.”
Young apologized to the victim and her family before sentencing, saying he was going to take his incarceration as an opportunity to become a better person.
Before sentencing, Ackerman said she reviewed all details of the case but found nothing that justified a lesser sentence.
“It is clear Mr. Young that you never wanted your unborn child,” she said. “Not only are your horrific, violent acts against the unborn baby’s mother evidence of that, but your actions and words prior to this clearly show your state of mind.”
