A Virginia man has learned his fate for shooting and killing his once-best friend in a violent case centered on an apparent love triangle.

Dustin Dove, aged 24, received a life sentence on Friday morning for the murder of Seth Wallace, who was 22, an event that took place in May 2024. This information was shared by local media, including the Harrisonburg ABC affiliate, WHSV.

A jury convicted Dove of first-degree murder in April, even though he initially faced a charge of second-degree murder. According to court records, Dove’s defense acknowledged he shot Wallace, but they claimed his intention was to wound, not to kill. Unfortunately, Wallace succumbed to his injuries less than three weeks after the incident.

The shooting on May 24, 2024, has a longer backstory. According to Waynesboro Circuit Court proceedings, Dove and Wallace became close friends after meeting at a bar in Harrisonburg in 2022. However, their relationship soured in January 2024 when Dove was incarcerated for drug offenses, as noted by his defense lawyer, as reported by WHSV.

The defense argued that Wallace behaved “inappropriately” with Dove’s girlfriend, Kaylee Turner, who was 22 at the time, suggesting a complex love triangle may have existed. Allegedly, Turner informed Dove of Wallace’s actions, leading them to choose to remove Wallace from their lives.

Dove was reportedly released from jail but breached his parole in May after testing positive for drugs. With the possibility of returning to jail, Wallace allegedly started to “manipulate” Turner by accusing Dove of infidelity, according to the defense attorney. This information intensified emotions significantly when Dove found out.

The two men sent “nasty, mean things” to each other, the defense attorney said, including Wallace allegedly targeting the cancer diagnosis of Dove’s mother. The texts continued until May 24, hours before Wallace was shot.

A digital forensics expert read the messages aloud in court, WHSV reported, with the messages including, “Dog, I’m going to destroy you” and “I’m going to get away with it.” At some point, Dove was even said to have recorded videos wearing a mask and holding the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting.

Then came the shooting itself. At about 4 a.m. on May 24, 2024, Dove and Turner drove to Wallace’s house on D Street in Waynesboro, prosecutors said. Dove hid in a location where he would be able to see Wallace, and when he did, he fired the gun. Fifteen bullet casings were reportedly later found, with eight of them being connected to bullets that had penetrated the victim’s skin.

The bullet wounds were mostly concentrated around Wallace’s groin and lower torso, prosecutors said. Body camera footage from responding Waynesboro police officers showed the victim struggling from the gunshot wounds but responsive.

“Who shot you?” one of them asked.

“Dustin … Dustin,” he managed to reply, eventually identifying Dove and leading to the man’s arrest the next day. Wallace’s wounds eventually became infected, sending him into septic shock and killing him.

The Waynesboro Police Department announced Dove’s arrest on May 25, 2024. It reportedly came after he and Turner drove to West Virginia to visit her father and talk about the murder.

Months after Wallace died, Dove is said to have written a rap song and sung it over a jail telephone line, with phrases including, “I don’t duck murders” and “He was my best friend, now he’s dead meat.”

Turner was also set to appear in court on Friday for a plea deal – having originally faced charges for accessory to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

A GoFundMe set up for Wallace said he was too “young to be taken” by an “act of hatred” and was “just starting” to really enjoy “life as a young man.”