A judge in Northern California sentenced a 51-year-old man to 95 years to life in state prison for the 2017 murder of a 30-year-old woman, his ex-girlfriend, in front of her children, officials announced late last week.
On April 3, 2017, Rashanda Franklin, 30, called police to report that her then 43-year-old ex-boyfriend, Lawyer Dushan McBride, was stalking her at her home in Richmond, a city around 12 miles north of Oakland.
When officers arrived, they found McBride attempting to get inside her residence.
Franklin explained to police that since she’d recently ended her nearly two-year relationship with McBride, he had repeatedly been harassing and stalking her and her children, KTLA’s sister-station KRON reported. Officers with the Richmond Police Department took a report and left the home. McBride killed Franklin less than 24 hours later.
The morning after calling police on her ex-boyfriend, the 30-year-old loaded her kids into her Jeep to take them to school.
In the parking lot of the church where the kids attended school, Franklin spotted McBride’s vehicle and realized he had been following them. She called 911 as she sped away with her kids, her ex chasing her in his Mercedes, SFGATE reported.
McBride cut Franklin off at the intersection of Rheem Avenue and 29th Street, exited his vehicle and approached hers in a confrontation that was captured on the 911 call, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said.
“I’ve got my kids in the car,” Franklin was heard saying.
“I’m not playing with you,” McBride responded before fatally shooting her in the torso.
The 30-year-old mother bled to death behind the wheel of the car with her two children in the backseat.
McBride fled the scene. He was eventually located in Sacramento at a fast-food restaurant about a week after the cold-blooded murder.
According to SFGATE, Franklin’s family members have been critical of the Richmond Police Department’s response to her call on the night before she was killed. A former captain on the force went so far as to say, “Everything I know about this incident now reinforces that we did not do enough to help her.”
In addition to murder, McBride was found guilty of and sentenced for firing a gun 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. 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,” Contra Costa County DA Diana Becton said. “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.”
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