*UPDATE* The remains of Delia Young have been located. In 2025, WCJB News reported that Valerie Young was mentally fit for trial. In 2022, she was initially found to be incompetent, but a new evaluation has changed the court’s decision. It is unclear if a trial date has been set.
Original Story (2021):
A missing person case involving a 13-year-old girl is believed by authorities to be a homicide. On May 16, Delia Young was reported missing by the teen’s aunt, 52-year-old Valerie Young, who told investigators that Delia vanished sometime during the night from her Gainesville, Florida home.
Delia was reportedly in the care of her guardian, 57-year-old Marian Glovina Williams, and after a week of searching for the young girl, both Williams and Young were arrested. Williams is said to have told detectives that she witnessed Young murder Delia with an electric cord.
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According to reports, Williams shared with authorities that Young allegedly beat Delia, who reportedly lived with mental health issues, with the cord while Williams was at the home. Things reportedly became so aggressive that Williams stated she had to stop the assault. Young and Williams are said to be sisters.
“Marian Williams stated that later in the evening she observed (Delia) walking around the house in a manner consistent with her being injured and asked if she needed to go to the hospital,” a detective wrote in a police report. “The following morning, (Williams) went to the child’s bedroom and discovered her unresponsive and deceased.”
It was then that Williams and Young reportedly devised a plan to conceal the crime. After her death, Delia was placed in a pink tote bag and was taken to a home in La Crosse, Florida that Williams owns. The sisters are the only people with keys to the residence, and they reportedly planned to permanently dispose of the young teen’s remains.
However, Williams said that when she went back to the home on May 18, two days after Delia was “missing,” she found only the bag outside. Williams claimed she burned the bag. It’s unclear if Williams later spoke with Young and attempted to find out what happened to Delia’s body. Authorities have not yet located the 13-year-old’s remains at the time of this publication.
Days ago, both Young and Williams were arrested. Young has been charged with manslaughter, failure to provide medical attention, tampering or destroying evidence, and aggravated child abuse. Williams, on the other hand, has been charged with negligent manslaughter of a child/accessory after the fact, refusing medical care as the condition worsens, neglect of a child with great bodily harm, and concealing physical evidence.
“Right now, I don’t [believe anyone else will be arrested]. Could something else happen? Potentially,” Sheriff’s Lt. Kaley Behl said. “They are still looking for Delia and making sure they have all of the evidence available. This is definitely not a ‘We’re done. This is a closed case.’ It’s not going to be for a while.”
“Lord bring some justice to this crime,” said Andrea Williams, the step-grandmother of Delia. “She liked to giggle. She liked to laugh. She liked to make people happy. She liked to draw. She liked to paint. She liked to do all things that kids like to do... All we ever saw was that the little girl was quiet. She never barely talked. Everywhere Marian went, she went.”
Please share this story about Delia Young to continue discussions about child abuse and to keep her name alive. She is our sister, and her life matters.
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