WBTV: Son may have killed mother to cover up thefts

The 88-year-old woman who police say was shot to death by her son Monday at an east Charlotte home was a longtime educator who was part of a Duke University documentary on the Jim Crow era of the South.

And the man accused of killing her was a practicing attorney in Virginia who, according to Observer media partner WBTV, may have killed her to cover up that he had taken money from her.

Imogene Yongue was found dead Monday afternoon at a single-story home in the 6100 block of Vernedale Road, off Sharon Amity Road, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. They responded after receiving a call about the woman’s welfare, police said.

The woman’s 56-year-old son, William Henry Yongue, was at the home, police said. After questioning him for several hours, detectives charged the man with first-degree murder. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday in Mecklenburg County.

Imogene “Jean” Yongue was a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta and a longtime educator. She and her husband, the late William Henry Yongue Jr., earned doctorate degrees from Virginia Tech. They were asked by Duke University officials to be a part of “Behind the Veil,” a series of interviews in the 1990s with African-Americans about the era of Jim Crow laws, which brought about racial segregation until the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the mid 1960s.

Imogene Yongue also was a supporter of Johnson C. Smith University and a member of the school’s Myers Society donors.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have not said how Yongue died, nor have they released a motive in the death. But WBTV said police sources reported that they believe William Yongue had been taking money from his mother and shot her to cover up the thefts.

Yongue is a practicing attorney in Blacksburg, Va., according to WBTV and WDBJ-TV in Blacksburg. The Virginia Bar Association directory shows Yongue as an active member in good standing.

This story was originally published December 24, 2014 at 10:02 AM with the headline "WBTV: Son may have killed mother to cover up thefts."