Video captures cab driver's fatal shooting in Lynchburg homicide (2024)

A judge certified a murder charge and three firearm-related charges Friday against a Lynchburg man accused of gunning down a cab driver during a Feb. 9 altercation on Morson Street.

Video footage of the incident captured from a city resident’s backyard with a view of the street was played for several minutes during Friday’s preliminary hearing in Lynchburg General District Court.

Officers responded to the 2600 block of Morson Street after reports of shots fired at 3:31 p.m. that day, the Lynchburg Police Department has said. Upon arrival, officers found Carroll Mack, 62, of Lynchburg, with a gunshot wound, LPD said in a news release. Despite life-saving efforts, Mack died from his injuries.

Police said following an investigation by the LPD Forensics Unit and Criminal Investigations division, Dabney Maurice Thomas Jr., 34, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, reckless handling of a firearm; use of a firearm in the commission of a felony; and discharging a firearm in the city limits.

Mack, a 1979 graduate of Heritage High School, was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps after three years of service and held several jobs before becoming an owner/operator Allied Cab driver, according to his obituary.

At Friday’s hearing before Judge Sam Eggleston III, a police officer testified of finding Mack lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. Two other officers testified of responding to the scene, speaking with witnesses and developing a description of a suspect.

During the investigation, Thomas was developed as a suspect and search warrants were executed for two residences on Cobbs Street and Monroe Street, according to officers’ testimony.

Thomas was arrested at a gas station on Wards Road in Lynchburg where his girlfriend worked and a gunshot residue test was performed on him, a detective testified. An Uber driver who picked Thomas up on Cobbs Street and drove him to the gas station identified him in a police lineup during the investigation, the driver testified.

The Uber driver testified he noticed Thomas was “twitchy,” quickly defending himself and stating “my girl is blowing up my phone” with concern he was in trouble.

A city resident provided police with security footage from the home that shows a view of Morson Street from the backyard. The lead detective in the case testified to obtaining the video footage that captured the incident between Mack and Thomas, which was played in court.

In the video, Mack can be heard telling Thomas to get out of the cab and “have a good day, sir,” the detective said in court. Mack told Thomas several times to “put the gun away” and Thomas was heard saying he didn’t want to go back to jail, the detective testified.

During the encounter a gunshot rang out, the video footage showed.

The lead detective testified a search was conducted of Thomas’ father’s residence on the 2000 block of Cobbs Street and a firearm was collected in the basem*nt that evidence shows was consistent with the weapon that killed Mack. At another residence on Monroe Street, jeans and a jacket with what appeared to be blood was seized, along with a backpack and ammunition, the detective testified.

Thomas was read his Miranda rights and interviewed, providing police with various versions of the incident, initially professing ignorance and after being confronted with the video footage stating it wasn’t him, according to the lead detective’s testimony. The defendant then said “the other dude” shot Mack, referring to a bystander, which the video footage did not corroborate, the detective said in court.

A self-defense claim from Thomas produced no evidence and another version was Mack shot himself trying to fire on the defendant, the detective testified. Thomas said in the interview Mack wanted him out of the cab for being drunk, and when asked if he was intoxicated Thomas replied “hell no,” the detective testified.

Thomas said in the interview Mack was “aggressive” toward him and in the video the defendant said “he pulled a gun on me,” referring to Mack as a bystander approached, according to the detective’s testimony.

Another officer who transported Thomas to the local jail testified during the ride the defendant could be heard saying “I [expletive] up my life,” “I didn’t mean to kill him” and that he knew he shouldn’t have had a gun.

After testimony from nine police officers and the Uber driver, Eggleston ruled to certify the four charges to the June 3 term of the grand jury, which decides if evidence is enough to set a trial in Lynchburg Circuit Court.