An Ohio resident faces decades in prison after being convicted of murdering a woman in front of her young daughter during a highway shooting. This incident, a mix of road rage and delayed vengeance, has shocked the community.

Earlier this month, 24-year-old Noah Messiah Corbitt admitted his guilt to one count of murder by felonious assault, alongside four counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, and a count of discharging a firearm in prohibited areas, previously reported by Law & Crime.

On Friday, Judge Kimberly A. Melnick of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas sentenced Corbitt to life imprisonment, with a chance for parole after 21 years, according to the lead prosecutor. Additionally, Corbitt will be credited for the 416 days spent in pretrial custody.

The tragic events unfolded on September 21, 2024, when a long-standing dispute over money escalated into violence. What started as an argument ended in devastation.

On that day, Corbitt harbored anger towards another man following a mishandled gun sale, as per a sentencing memorandum. Years prior, Corbitt was supposed to receive a firearm in exchange for $200. However, after receiving payment, the other party allegedly reneged on the deal, disappearing with the money and never delivering the gun, prosecutors allege. Recently, the two men unexpectedly found themselves working together at an Amazon facility in Vandalia, a small suburb approximately 11 miles north of Dayton.

Years ago, Corbitt was supposed to have received the firearm in exchange for $200, but after getting paid, the other man allegedly went back on the deal — leaving with Corbitt’s money but never coming back with the gun, prosecutors say. Recently, Corbitt and the other man became co-workers at an Amazon facility in Vandalia, a small suburb located some 11 miles due north of Dayton.

On Sept. 20, 2024, and into the early morning of the next day, the men came into contact with one another, the memo recounts.

“The two individuals had not seen each other since the failed gun sale,” the memo reads. “The Defendant confronted [the other man who] indicated that he did not wish to fight because he did not want them to lose their jobs.”

On Sept. 21, 2024, between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., both men left the Amazon facility following overnight shifts. Corbitt followed his co-worker, authorities say. The defendant traveled in his blue Chevrolet Impala, while the other man got a ride from Jermea Lyle, 26, in her silver Nissan Altima.

Lyle worked at a nearby retirement community and also worked the night shift. That morning, Lyle’s daughter’s father picked her up and then drove to the Amazon facility to pick up the other man.

As the Altima left Interstate 75 heading south to merge onto Interstate 35 going westbound, the victim was asleep in the back seat of the car next to her daughter in her car seat — when a shot rang out.

“Lyle awoke and indicated that she had been hit,” the memo reads. “[The driver] saw a blue Chevy Impala speeding off the exit at the Germantown Street exit.”

Lyle was rushed to Miami Valley Hospital by 7:15 a.m. and was soon pronounced dead, according to authorities.

“A bullet entered her left back and exited her left chest as her head rested in the lap of her [4-year-old] daughter,” the memo goes on. “The bullet caused injuries to her left lung, heart, and broke her rib.”

Then, the driver circled the area where the shooting occurred on a map provided by law enforcement. Later, a 9 mm hollow point bullet was collected from the back of the driver’s seat in the Altima.

“The bullet had passed through the trunk, the back seat, [Lyle’s] body, and lodged in the back of the driver’s seat,” the memo continues. “The bullet’s flight was less than 2 feet from hitting the car seat where [the little girl] was seated.”

During a subsequent interview with police, the Amazon co-worker discussed the resurfaced gun-and-money argument with Corbitt, according to prosecutors. Soon enough, investigators learned the defendant was the registered owner of a blue Impala.

A search warrant was executed at Corbitt’s residence — turning up a 9 mm magazine with hollow point bullets. The Impala was towed, and a 9 mm Taurus pistol — loaded with hollow point bullets — was recovered, prosecutors say. By October 2024, a ballistics expert connected the gun and ammunition, finding that the recovered Taurus was the gun that fired the fatal shot, according to law enforcement.

On Oct. 4, 2024, Corbitt was indicted on eight counts.

In a custodial interview, he was apparently voluble about the role he played in the sleeping mother’s death on the highway.

“Per Defendant, he fired the shot left-handed out of his driver’s side window as a warning shot,” the memo reads. “He indicated that his gun jammed after the first shot.”

Under the terms of his plea agreement, two counts against him were dropped and the state and defense ultimately agreed to the 21-year sentence that was imposed by the judge on Friday.

In the defense’s own sentencing memo, Corbitt’s attorney notes that the defendant is a father to a 3-year-old boy and that he will never forget the “grave mistake” he made by shooting at Lyle’s car.

“Corbitt did not know [Lyle] and her daughter were in the car,” the defense memo reads. “Had he known, the ‘scare’ shot to [his co-worker] would not have been fired. Suffice to say, Corbitt regrets his action that morning — especially considering he too is a parent of a young child.”

The state, for its part, said any “remorse expressed at this point lacks legitimacy” because of prior statements Corbitt made. In turn, the defense said those prior statements, which included attempts to defend himself, “should not be construed as a lack of remorse.”

For all the back-and-forth arguments, the judge did not deviate from the agreed-upon sentence of 21 years.

“This was a senseless shooting, that took the life of a completely innocent young mother and left her 4-year-old girl without her mom,” Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck said in a press release. “This defendant deserves every single day of his prison sentence.”