No arrests made in Pearland grandmother's murder in 2017 cold case

PEARLAND, Texas (KTRK) -- Monday will mark seven years since a Pearland grandmother was found dead, and the case appears no closer to being solved.

Valerie Ruth Young, 59, was found in her Roy Road garage with multiple gunshots wounds on Dec. 23, 2017.

Her niece, Erin Chaboya, says evidence she's reviewed indicates Young was killed the day before.

"This case could be prosecuted and should," Chaboya told Eyewitness News from her home in Pennsylvania.

In 2019, Young's son told Eyewitness News his mother had returned home to find her door wide open the day before her body was discovered.

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But when Young's estranged husband checked things out, he found no evidence of intruders.

The next day, her son said his father found her body in the garage.

"I wasn't sure if that was just a ruse to mix things up a bit, kind of like throw off the scent if you know what I'm saying," Chaboya said.

Police didn't publicly acknowledge Young's murder until two weeks later at the family's request.

There's a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, but Crime Stoppers says tips have been infrequent and they haven't gotten anything substantial.

"We're no sooner, closer to an arrest, and we're just frustrated," Chaboya said.

Yet Chaboya said that when investigators invited her to review their case file in 2019, she left with the impression that an arrest was imminent.

"No one wants to believe that someone possibly close to her would have done something like this, but things happen, and people do things," Chaboya said.

Eyewitness News reached out to Pearland police for an update in the case and is waiting to hear back.

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