Elderly Man, 81, Charged with Murdering Uber Driver in Scam Gone Wrong
An 81-year-old man from Ohio, identified as William Brock, has been charged with murdering an Uber driver, Loletha Hall, 61, in a case of mistaken identity.
The incident occurred last month outside Brock's home in South Charleston.
According to police, both Brock and Hall were targeted by a scammer who demanded thousands of dollars and threatened to harm Brock's nephew.
Hall was sent to Brock's house to pick up a package, but when she arrived, Brock, believing her to be part of the scam, confronted her with a pistol and shot her multiple times.
Brock has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
Dashcam footage from the incident shows Brock brandishing the pistol at Hall to prevent her from leaving.
Officials investigated a case where an unknown man called Mr. Brock demanding a $12,000 ransom to free his nephew, threatening to harm him if not paid.
A separate incident involved a scammer hiring Ms. Hall through Uber to pick up a package from Mr. Brock's home, unaware of the threats.
When Ms. Hall arrived, Mr. Brock pointed a gun at her and demanded she reveal the caller's identity.
Ms. Hall made no threats or demands and suffered from medical conditions, while being unarmed.
A woman named Ms. Hall attempted to leave an encounter with a man named Mr. Brock, but he prevented her from doing so and demanded her phone.
In the dashcam footage, Mr. Brock is heard insisting that Ms. Hall give him her phone and refusing to let her leave.
After a struggle at the door of Ms. Hall's vehicle, Mr. Brock allegedly shot her multiple times.
He then called 911 and was found injured when the police arrived.