An 83-year-old Ohio man was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison for the murder of an Uber driver he shot and killed after mistakenly believing she was involved in a scam targeting him.
William J. Brock was convicted last month in the March 2024 killing of Lo-Letha Toland-Hall outside his South Charleston home. Prosecutors said Brock shot Toland-Hall six times after she arrived at his residence, unaware she had been sent there by scammers.
Authorities said Brock had been speaking with scammers who demanded $12,000, claiming the money was needed to bail a relative out of jail. When Brock realized it was a scam, the caller threatened him and instructed him to hand the money to someone outside his home.
That person was Toland-Hall, who prosecutors said was simply trying to pick up a package as part of her work as an Uber driver. Despite her efforts to explain who she was, Brock shot her, later saying he felt threatened. Prosecutors noted Toland-Hall was unarmed and posed no danger.
A 911 call and body camera footage from sheriff’s deputies captured how the scam unfolded.
“I’m sure glad to see you guys out here cause I’ve been on this phone for a couple of hours with this guy saying I had a nephew in jail, had a wreck in Charleston and he just kept hanging on, needing bond money and this woman was supposed to,” Brock said on a deputy’s body camera.
“So it was a scam,” a sheriff’s deputy replied.
“Yeah I figured it, I kept getting different names and different stories out of him,” Brock said.
Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll described the case as tragic for everyone involved.
“Both families have lost loved ones because of this, and there are no winners here,” Driscoll said, via the Springfield News-Sun.
The scammers who carried out the scheme have not been caught. Driscoll said he hopes they will eventually be identified and held accountable.