On the morning of October 2, 2021, Louisville police responded to a reported break-in at an InTown Suites in the Okolona neighborhood and found 40-year-old Poncho Young fatally shot inside a hotel room. He was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound. Several other people were present in the room when the shooting occurred.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and witness statements that showed 28-year-old Chelynda Howlett entering the room with a purse before the shooting and leaving without it. The video then captured her returning, breaking a window to re-enter the room, and leaving again with the purse concealed in a sheet. Howlett was arrested on December 5, 2022, and charged with murder, first-degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence, and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

On June 18, 2025, Howlett pleaded guilty after the murder charge was amended to reckless homicide and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with parole eligibility after serving 20 percent of the term. Does anyone have information about the events in that hotel room or about Poncho’s last known movements that could help clarify what happened?