Man killed boyfriend then took money from his $2M trust fund for months, PA cops say

For up to four months in late 2019, Keshaun Sheffield tried to maintain the belief his boyfriend was still alive, prosecutors in Pennsylvania say.

He accessed the social media accounts of his boyfriend, 22-year-old Rashid Young, and used Young’s phone to communicate with his family. Sheffield, 20, was even accessing the bank account of Young, the heir of a $2 million trust fund, according to a June 1 news release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

But Young was killed on Aug. 19, 2019, when his boyfriend stabbed him in his apartment, officials said. Young’s body was buried in a Philadelphia arboretum, and a landscaper found his remains about six weeks later, according to the district attorney.

An autopsy revealed Young suffered “multiple stab wounds” in the “left upper back, right mid back, left lateral chest” and his neck, according to an affidavit.

Those remains were not identified until Friday, May 27, when detectives in Montgomery County used dental records to identify Young as the victim. Detectives have since arrested Sheffield, accusing him of the murder of his boyfriend.

“Since August 2019, a family has been searching for information about their missing son,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement. “Today, we shared with them the tragic details of his death and we will be able to return his remains to them for a proper burial.”

Young and Sheffield were in a relationship for around two years until Young’s 2019 death, officials said. A motive in the killing isn’t known.

The apartment where Young was killed was “intentionally flooded,” doors were broken and holes were in the walls, prosecutors say. The damage from the apartment exceeded $20,000, and the property owner received a text message from Young’s phone number staying, “I am responsible and will pay for the damages,” according to an affidavit.

As police were responding to the apartment flooding, Sheffield was moving his boyfriend’s body with the assistance of a friend, Steele said.

Sheffield dug a hole at Awbury Arboretum in Philadelphia, then returned later to bury Young’s body, the district attorney said.

Despite Sheffield attempting to maintain belief Young was still alive, his family declared him missing in December 2019. Sheffield had already made “numerous withdrawls” from Young’s bank account, according to the district attorney.

From July to December 2019, 15 transfers were made from Young’s account to Sheffield’s, records show. Young was getting $800 trust deposits into his account every two weeks until December.

When Young was declared missing, his bank account was frozen, prohibiting Sheffield from accessing more funds from the $2 million account, officials said.

The relationship between Young and Sheffield, who was 17 at the time of the alleged murder, was described by friends and family members as “volatile and at times, violent,” prosecutors say.

A private investigator hired by Young’s family encouraged Montgomery County police to look into his disappearance, the district attorney said. That investigation tied Young’s disappearance and subsequent death to Sheffhield “through the use of a confidential informant (and) cellphone records,” according to Steele.

Young’s mother told detectives she and other family members believed messages they received from Young’s number in late 2019 were not sent by Young, according to the affidavit.

“Detectives suspected Sheffield maintained possession of Young’s phone following his disappearance and had access to Young’s social media accounts,” prosecutors said in the affidavit.

Investigators received data from Facebook in May 2022 that showed messages sent from Young’s account after his disappearance were sent from the block where Sheffield’s mother lived, the affidavit states. An analysis of Young’s movements through his phone further tied Sheffield to the killing, prosecutors say.

A witness “involved in an intimate relationship” with Sheffield told detectives on May 28, he received a call from Sheffield after the killing. Sheffield told him he stabbed and killed Young because he “had to,” according to the affidavit.

“(The witness) stated he did not believe Sheffield at first but later ‘saw the evidence,’” court records show.

The witness also revealed to detectives he helped Sheffield “bury the body.” The witness said Young’s body was put in a recyclable container, then he and Sheffield “spent hours digging” the hole, prosecutors said in the affidavit.

Sheffield was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, theft, receiving stolen property, possessing an instrument of crime and access device fraud.

This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Man killed boyfriend then took money from his $2M trust fund for months, PA cops say."