A Cleveland man was sentenced to life on Tuesday for killing the driver of his Lyft ride.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Gall handed 20-Year-old Derrek Dove a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of 56-year-old Antoine Latham. Dove pleaded guilty to murder with a three-year firearm specification and aggravated robbery.
Around 10 p.m. on Feb. 8, Dove called for a Lyft ride to Cleveland’s Woodland Hills, along East 102nd Street and Rosehill Avenue. According to prosecutors, the victim picked up Dove and two unknown individuals. During the ride, the defendant tried to rob Latham, and instead shot him in the back of the head. As a result, the vehicle hit a guardrail next to some residential buildings before Dove and the unknown men fled the scene.
Though first responders provided life-saving measures and transported the victim to the nearest hospital, Latham succumbed to his wounds.
"These cases, to say that they're terribly tragic or senseless, words don't even begin to, I think, adequately express how the community feels when something like this happens. And to be shot in the back of the head in the most cowardly fashion. It's hard for — I'll speak for myself, and I think the rest of us who do this kind of work — it's hard for us to wrap our heads around these kinds of cases, and this is the kind of work that we do," said Gall according to WKYC Studios.
Soon, investigators identified Dove while canvassing the neighborhood and obtained a search warrant for his residence. There, authorities found multiple firearms before arresting the defendant.
During the sentencing hearing, Dove apologized for the killing and told the victim’s family he had no intention to kill Latham.
“Don’t kid yourself and say I don’t know why it happened or I didn’t intend for that to happen, let’s at least be honest about that,” said Gall, reported Cleveland 19.
Dove will be eligible for parole after serving 21 years in prison.
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