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Of all the things that plague modern American society, scammers don’t appear to be high on most people’s list of concerns that need to be addressed. Maybe a story like this will help change that.
Scamming has become an economy and beyond costing innocent people their homes, life savings, marriages, jobs, and more, in the case of 61-year-old Loletha Hall, it cost her her life.
According to an ABCNews report, Loletha was wrongfully suspected of working in concert with a scammer who had been harassing 81-year-old William Brock by impersonating a court officer via cell phone.
Says Lt. Kristopher Shultz of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office via ABCNews:
“Mr. Brock received some scam call by a person purporting to be someone from our courts who informed him a family member was incarcerated and that he had a bond of a significant amount of money,” Shultz said. “The calls turned from ‘I’m an officer in the court’ to ‘We have this subject hostage, this is a ransom demand.’”
The scammer caller told Brock that an Uber would arrive at his home to pick him up and deliver the money.
Enter, Loletha Hall, the Uber driver. When she pulled up to Brock’s home, he immediately accused her of working with the scammer caller and took her cell phone at gunpoint. She was unarmed.
“When she tried to get away, he shot her once, then there was more exchange between them,” Shultz said. “Mr. Brock was at some point injured to his head, and he shot Ms. Hall a second time. There was more conversation, and then he shot her a third time. Only after he shot her a third time did he then make contact with authorities to report the incident.”
Ms. Hall was taken to the hospital where she died from her injuries. Uber says that the account that sent Hall to Brock’s home has been suspended but they have not publicly identified them. A grand jury has indicted Brock on three counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, and one count of kidnapping.
