SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A jury convicted an 83-year-old Ohio man of murder in the shooting of an Uber driver who he wrongly thought was trying to rob him after scam phone calls deceived them both.
William J. Brock fatally shot the driver after wrongly assuming she was in on a plot to get $12,000 in supposed bond money for a relative, authorities said.
The driver fell victim to the same scammer, driving to Brock's home between Dayton and Columbus to pick up a package for delivery, according to investigators.
Brock shot the driver, 61-year-old Lo-Letha Toland-Hall of Dublin, a Columbus suburb, six times when she showed up at his home in March 2024, authorities said.
Brock, of South Charleston, was convicted of murder, felonious assault and kidnapping Wednesday. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week. A message seeking comment was left with his attorney.
Brock's attorney said the shooting was in self-defense and the scammer had made threats against him and his family. Brock testified during the trial that he felt threatened when the driver arrived at his house.
But prosecutors said Hall was unarmed and posed no threat when Brock shot her. Investigators said the driver was unaware of the scam call that Brock had received with threats and demands for money.
Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll told reporters after the verdict that both families lost loved ones because of the scam.
“The really sad part about this is that we know there are still criminals out there," he said. “We know that the scammers, the folks who started this, haven’t been brought to justice.”
This booking photo released by the Clark County, Ohio, Sheriff's Office, shows William Brock, an Ohio man who authorities say fatally shot an Uber driver who he thought was trying to rob him after scam phone calls deceived them both. (Clark County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from Uber dashcam video released by the Clark County, Ohio, Sheriff's Office, William Brock, right, holds a weapon to Uber driver Loletha Hall outside his home in South Charleston, Ohio, on March 25, 2024. (Clark County Sheriff's Office via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone attack before dawn on Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa wounded 14 people, including two children, authorities said Monday, in the latest barrage of civilian areas that have been a hallmark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in the Russia-occupied part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, Moscow-installed Gov. Vladimir Saldo said Monday. A man and a woman in their 70s died in the village of Dnipriany, he said.
In Odesa, drones hit residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure, said Serhii Lysak, the head of the city’s administration. Russia has repeatedly targeted Odesa, a key Black Sea port for Ukraine, since Moscow launched the war more than four years ago on Feb. 24, 2022.
Five of the wounded, most of them with shrapnel wounds, were hospitalized, according to Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Russia has fired approximately 1,900 attack drones, nearly 1,400 powerful guided aerial bombs and around 60 missiles of various types at Ukraine over the past week.
Ukraine’s wartime development of cutting-edge military technology means that it's intercepting more than 90% of the drones that Russia launches, Zelenskyy said in an X post. However, Ukraine needs more American-made Patriot air defense missiles, which are able to shoot down Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has recently been helping Middle Eastern and Gulf region countries, which are countering attacks on their territory by Iranian drones, with know-how during the Iran war.
Norway is the latest European country to enter into a joint drone manufacturing agreement with Kyiv, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Monday.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his government plans a “drone armada” with Ukraine’s help, to defend both itself and Europe.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, on a visit to Warsaw, said that Ukraine has evolved from being a recipient of foreign military aid to a country that can offer state of the art military solutions.
“We are able to destroy tanks, destroy expensive systems and drones, it is our reality,” she said, according to the Polish press agency PAP. “A number of the systems that we’re using are produced in Ukraine. I think we have made a big leap here.”
Zelenskyy noted a recent raft of good news for Ukraine: NATO partners, excluding the United States, have contributed to a financial arrangement to buy American weapons, the European Union has approved a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan to Ukraine, and the EU intends to place more sanctions on Moscow.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been assailing oil terminals and refineries deep inside Russia with long-range drones and missiles, aiming to disrupt Moscow’s economy.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Sunday it has seen geolocated evidence that Ukrainian forces conducted at least 10 strikes against Russian oil and gas infrastructure in the past two weeks.
Claudia Ciobanu contributed to this report from Warsaw, Poland.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A rescue worker walks inside apartments destroyed by a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)
A person walks near residential houses damaged by a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)
