Police on Monday arrested a Springfield man wanted in connection to a March murder in which the suspect went to a house on East Commercial Street looking for his ex-girlfriend whom he had recently threatened to kill.
She survived, but Johnny Hipol, 30, was shot and died on March 26.
James Lee Young Jr., 29, is in the Greene County Jail facing a charge of second-degree murder involving the death.
According to court records, on that morning Young and others went to the house.
Young's ex-girlfriend was there, staying with friends.
She told police she had stopped dating Young in September of 2020 because of domestic violence.
On March 25, the day before, according to court documents, Young started to send threatening messages to the woman, including, “I'm coming to find you now and I'm blowing your (expletive) head off bitch.”
Hipol met Young at the door of the residence, according to documents, and told Young the woman was not there, although she was.
According to documents, Young said he and the others with him were not leaving until the woman came outside.
The residents of the house tried to protect the woman.
The door to the house was closed but somehow Young entered through it with others. Hipol grabbed the woman and threw her behind him into the hallway leading to the back part of the house, according to court documents.
A fight ensued and it is believed that more than one person fired a gun.
When police arrived, Hipol was dead.
A second man, who was staying at the house, was shot in the arm. He went to the hospital and was treated and released.
A third man at the house told police he was pistol whipped, or hit with a gun.
Court documents state that Young was a convicted felon at the time of this incident.
