An Ohio, USA jury has convicted an 83-year-old man of murder in the fatal shooting of an Uber driver he wrongly believed was attempting to rob him as part of a phone scam.
William J. Brock was found guilty after fatally shooting 61-year-old Lo-Letha Toland-Hall outside his home in South Charleston, Ohio, in March 2024. Authorities said Brock had been targeted by scam phone calls demanding $12,000 in supposed bond money for a relative and mistakenly believed the Uber driver was involved in the scheme.
Investigators said Toland-Hall was also a victim of the same scam. She had been directed to Brock’s home to pick up a package for delivery, unaware of the threatening calls Brock had received.
Prosecutors said Brock shot Toland-Hall six times when she arrived at his home. She was unarmed and posed no threat, according to investigators.
Brock was convicted of murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping. He is scheduled to be sentenced this week. His attorney argued during the trial that Brock acted in self-defense, saying the scammer had made threats against Brock and his family and that Brock felt endangered when the driver arrived.
Prosecutors rejected that claim, maintaining that Toland-Hall had no connection to the scam and was simply carrying out a routine Uber delivery.
After the verdict, the county prosecutor said the case highlighted the devastating consequences of scam-related crimes, noting that both families suffered tragic losses while the scammers responsible remain at large.
