CLEVELAND, Ohio — A 20-year-old man has been charged with aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a Lyft driver during an attempted cellphone robbery in Cleveland.
Derrek Dove of Warrensville Heights was charged Thursday in Cleveland’s Municipal Court in the death of Antoine Latham, 56, who was shot and crashed into a guardrail Sunday in the 10200 block of Rosehill Avenue, according to authorities.
Cleveland officers arrested Dove on Wednesday and confiscated multiple firearms during the arrest, according to a Cleveland police report.
Court documents accuse Dove of shooting Latham and trying to take his cellphone.
Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd praised detectives for their work on the case.
“Their swift and dedicated efforts led to an arrest within 72 hours,” Todd said.
The shooting was one of two attacks on Lyft drivers in Cleveland within days of each other. Early Tuesday morning, Vasyl Shvets, 27, of Parma was shot in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood and crashed his vehicle into a dumpster, police said. Authorities have not connected the two incidents, and Dove has not been tied to the second shooting.
The incidents prompted Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb to issue a statement describing them as “horrific” and “heinous.”
“The city will push for punishment that reflects the full gravity of this barbaric behavior,” Bibb said.
A high bond was requested for Dove during his court hearing. The case will be sent to a grand jury for a hearing. The department is working with the Lyft platform to investigate both cases. Lyft said it has banned the customer who used the platform to order the rides in both incidents.
