District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Tuesday (Aug. 20) secured the guilty plea of a New Orleans man who fatally shot his cousin in the head three years ago inside a Central City bar.

Michael J. Young averted a scheduled murder trial by pleading guilty to an amended charge of manslaughter in connection to the death of 42-year-old Greg Young on Jan. 31, 2016. The victim was shot inside Verret’s Lounge in the 1700 block of Washington Avenue and died in a hospital four days later.

Michael Young, a 42-year-old aspiring rapper who performed as Mike Dough on the local Kowboii Records label, also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, aggravated assault with a firearm and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges included offenses committed the day before the killing, when the defendant threatened another man with a gun in the 500 block of Austerlitz Street around 3:25 a.m.

After hearing an impact statement from the victim’s wife, Criminal District Judge Darryl Derbigny imposed a 20-year prison term for the manslaughter, followed by a 7-year sentence for obstruction that he ordered to be served consecutively. The 10-year sentences for the other convictions will be served concurrent to the manslaughter term.

Assistant District Attorney Sarah Dawkins prosecuted the case.

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