Insets, left to right: Lawyer McBride (Richmond police) and Rashanda Franklin (Latesha Wise/Facebook). Background: Police in Richmond, California, examine the scene after McBride fatally shot Franklin (KGO).
A California man will spend his life in prison after intercepting his ex-girlfriend’s car, exiting his vehicle, and fatally shooting her in front of her young children.
Lawyer Dushan McBride, 51, received a sentence of 95 years to life for the 2017 murder of Rashanda Franklin, as reported by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors explained that McBride had been trailing and harassing Franklin for weeks following the end of their two-year relationship. On April 14, 2017, he stationed himself in a church parking lot, waiting for the 30-year-old Franklin to drop off her children. Upon noticing McBride and fearing for her life, she contacted 911 and chose to drive away instead of leaving her kids there.
As Franklin approached the intersection of 29th Street and Rheem Avenue, McBride blocked her vehicle and confronted her. The 911 call chronicled the ensuing events.
“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, aged 9 and 5 at the time, according to the San Jose Mercury News, were not physically harmed during the shooting, yet their terrified cries are heard in the emergency 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.”
