An 83-year-old man who shot and killed an Uber driver after believing she was connected to scammers has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
William J. Brock was found guilty last month in the death of Lo-Letha Toland-Hall, 61, who was shot outside his home in South Charleston, a village near Columbus, Ohio. Toland-Hall later died at a hospital while undergoing surgery.
Prosecutors said Brock mistakenly believed Toland-Hall was part of a fraud scheme targeting him, after he received threats against himself and his family. On Monday, he was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison.
A jury convicted Brock on multiple charges, including felony murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping, according to the Springfield News-Sun.
Sent on a routine pickup
Investigators said Toland-Hall was also an innocent victim of the scam. She had been dispatched to Brock’s home for an Uber job that involved picking up what she was told was a “package.”
Dashcam video from Toland-Hall’s vehicle shows Brock approaching her with a .22-caliber revolver after she arrived, authorities said. A struggle followed, and prosecutors said Brock fired multiple shots.
The New York Times reported that Toland-Hall was shot six times. She sustained gunshot wounds to her upper left torso, left thigh, and chest, and later died in the hospital.
Authorities say the scammers who set the events in motion have not been identified.
Brock said scammers threatened his family
Brock pleaded not guilty, telling police he believed he was being extorted. According to investigators, he said scammers demanded $12,000 and claimed it was needed to bail a relative out of jail.
After the shooting, Brock placed a 911 call describing the threats he said he had received.
“He was telling me he was going to kill me, my family and everybody else,” Brock said during the call, describing what he claimed the scammer told him.
Prosecutors said the person on the phone instructed Brock to hand the money to whoever was outside his home — and that person turned out to be Toland-Hall, who believed she was simply completing a legitimate pickup.
Prosecutors rejected self-defense claim
Authorities said that when Toland-Hall arrived, Brock demanded she identify herself and took her phone. Prosecutors alleged he prevented her from leaving and that the confrontation escalated into a physical struggle.
Toland-Hall was trying to get back to her vehicle when gunfire erupted, prosecutors said. In the dashcam footage, Brock can be heard threatening to “shoot the other leg” as Toland-Hall screams.
Brock later claimed Toland-Hall had slammed his head in her car door and said he believed she was going to retrieve a weapon from her car when he fired again.
Prosecutors disputed that account, arguing Toland-Hall was unarmed and posed no threat. Police said she made no demands and only asked about the package she had been sent to collect.
After the verdict, Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll said: “Both families have lost loved ones because of this, and there are no winners here.”
