Murder trial set to begin for Baltimore woman accused of killing mother in 2019

BALTIMORE - Eshyna Young waived her right to a jury trial Wednesday ahead of her murder trial set to begin Thursday. She's accused of killing her mother, Tinestta Young, on March 6, 2019.

Eshyna Young is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection to the fire at her home on S. Morley Street. Eight weeks after the fire, investigators charged Eshyna Young once the medical examiner determined Tinestta died from asphyxiation.

Neighbors told WJZ at the time they couldn't think of a motive. 

"That was her only daughter," said one neighbor. "She didn't have any other children, and I never seen any big problems with them or anything like that. So, I'm really shocked." 

Judge John Nugent, who will oversee Eshyna Young's trial, denied her attorney's motion to dismiss. Assistant Public Defender Julie Shapiro argued the state withheld evidence related to the fire investigation.

Shapiro laid out a theory Tinestta Young had been drinking and "carelessly smoking" started a fire. She said investigators did not find signs of accelerants, flammable liquids or foul play.

Friends who came to support Eshyna Young hope Nugent will exonerate her.

She spent more than a year in jail during the trial's multiple postponements. 

"There's definitely a lot of questions left unanswered," Kerron Lee said outside court Wednesday. "I feel like we've known her for a while. In my eyes, it doesn't make sense at all."

Eshyna Young was 22 at the time of the fire. She's 26 now.

The murder trial is set to begin Thursday, August 4, at 9:30 a.m.