Insets, left to right: Lawyer McBride (Richmond police) and Rashanda Franklin (Latesha Wise/Facebook). Background: Police in Richmond, California, investigate after McBride shot Franklin to death (KGO).
A California man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he cut off his ex-girlfriend”s car while driving, jumped out, and then shot her to death in front of her young children.
Lawyer Dushan McBride, 51, was sentenced to 95 years to life in prison for the 2017 shooting death of Rashanda Franklin, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said McBride had been following and harassing her for weeks after she ended their two-year relationship. On April 14, 2017, he waited in a church parking lot for the 30-year-old Franklin to drop off her kids. After seeing him and fearing for her safety, she called 911 and drove away rather than drop off the children.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
As she neared the intersection of 29th Street and Rheem Avenue, McBride cut off her car and got out to confront her. The 911 call captured what happened next.
“I’ve got my kids in the car,” she pleaded.
McBride apparently didn’t care.
“I ain’t playing with you,” he said before shooting and killing her.
The children, both boys, were then ages 9 and 5, according to the San Jose Mercury News. While they weren’t physically injured in the shooting, their screams of fear were audible in the 911 call.
“Those kids loved their mom,” Franklin’s aunt Ummu Ikharo-Oza told local ABC affiliate KGO after the shooting. “I know for sure.”
A jury earlier this year found McBride guilty of murder, firing into an occupied vehicle, stalking and using a firearm to cause death.
“This tragic case underscores the devastating reality of domestic violence, which claims far too many lives,” District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement. “While no verdict can bring back a mother taken from her children in such a senseless act of violence, this sentence provides the victim’s family with a measure of justice and accountability. It also sends a clear message that stalking and harassment are warning signs that must be taken seriously, and that those who perpetrate such violence will be held responsible under the law.”
Â
