Ohio Man, 83, Convicted of Murder in Uber Driver Scam Shooting
An Ohio jury convicted 83-year-old William J. Brock of murder, felonious assault and kidnapping for fatally shooting Uber driver Lo-Letha Toland-Hall outside his South Charleston home in March 2024 after a bond-money phone scam deceived them both. Prosecutors said Brock, believing a caller’s threat-filled demand for $12,000 in supposed bail money, wrongly assumed Toland-Hall was part of the plot when she arrived to pick up a package she had been dispatched to collect, and shot the unarmed 61-year-old six times. Dashcam video from her Uber shows Brock holding a gun on her; he testified he acted in self-defense, claiming he feared for his life and was injured in a struggle over a car door, but jurors needed only about an hour to reject that account. Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll said “both families lost loved ones because of the scam” and noted the unidentified scammers behind the calls have not been caught, underscoring how aggressive fraud schemes are feeding real-world violence. Toland-Hall’s estate has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit seeking more than $25,000 in damages, and Brock is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
📌 Key Facts
- Defendant: William J. Brock, 83, of South Charleston, Ohio, convicted of murder, felonious assault and kidnapping
- Victim: Uber driver Lo-Letha (Loletha) Toland-Hall, 61, of Dublin, Ohio, shot six times outside Brock’s home in March 2024
- Both Brock and Toland-Hall were misled by a scammer demanding $12,000 in bogus bond money; the scammer has not been identified or charged
- Jury deliberated about one hour before returning guilty verdicts; Brock’s sentencing is scheduled for next week
📊 Relevant Data
The offender, William J. Brock, is a White man, and the victim, Lo-Letha Hall, is a Black woman.
White Man Charged With Murdering Black Woman Uber Driver Over A Scam She Wasn’t Responsible For — NewsOne
In 2023, Black Americans were more likely than White Americans to have been victims of a phone scam (47% vs. 25%), and Black and Hispanic Americans were twice as likely to lose money to phone scams compared to White Americans.
America Under Attack: The Shifting Landscape of Spam and Scam Calls in America — U.S. PIRG Education Fund
In 2024, Americans over 60 lost $4.8 billion to scams, representing a 43% increase in losses from 2023, with older adults losing more on average per incident than younger demographics.
Seniors lost $4.8 billion to scammers in 2024: FBI — ABC News
In 2023, the homicide victimization rate for Black Americans was 26.6 per 100,000, compared to 3.9 per 100,000 for White Americans, with Black individuals comprising 13.7% of the U.S. population but 53.8% of homicide victims.
Black Homicide Victimization in the United States — Violence Policy Center
Based on FBI data for 2019 (latest detailed available), there were 246 White-on-Black homicides compared to 566 Black-on-White homicides, with most homicides being intra-racial (89% for Black victims, 81% for White victims); given population sizes (White ~60%, Black ~13%), the per capita rate of White offending against Blacks is lower.
Homicide Rates by Race, and the Mehdi Hasan Controversy — Reason
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