An Ohio resident, Noah Messiah Corbitt, 24, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 21 years for a fatal highway shooting that occurred in 2024. The incident, which was a culmination of a road rage incident and a long-standing dispute over a failed gun sale, resulted in the death of a woman in front of her 4-year-old daughter.
Corbitt pleaded guilty to one count of murder by felonious assault, four counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises. He will also receive 416 days of credit for time spent in pretrial detention, according to Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kimberly A. Melnick.
The tragic incident unfolded on September 21, 2024, when a disagreement over money escalated into a fatal confrontation. Corbitt had previously paid $200 for a firearm that was never delivered, and the man who had taken his money later became his co-worker at an Amazon facility in Vandalia, a suburb of Dayton.
On the day of the incident, both men left the Amazon facility after their overnight shifts. Corbitt followed his co-worker, who was being driven by Jermea Lyle, 26, in her silver Nissan Altima. As they were merging onto Interstate 35 from Interstate 75, a shot was fired from Corbitt’s blue Chevrolet Impala, hitting Lyle, who was asleep in the back seat next to her daughter.
Lyle was rushed to Miami Valley Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The bullet had entered her left back, exited her left chest, and lodged in the back of the driver’s seat, less than two feet from where her daughter was seated.
During the investigation, police discovered that Corbitt was the registered owner of a blue Impala. A search warrant executed at his residence yielded a 9 mm magazine with hollow point bullets. A 9 mm Taurus pistol, loaded with hollow point bullets, was also recovered from the Impala. By October 2024, a ballistics expert had linked the recovered Taurus to the fatal shot.
Corbitt was indicted on eight counts on October 4, 2024. During a custodial interview, he admitted to firing the shot as a warning to his co-worker. He claimed that his gun jammed after the first shot.
Despite the defense’s argument that Corbitt was unaware of Lyle and her daughter’s presence in the car and that he regretted his actions, the state maintained that any remorse expressed was insincere due to his previous statements. The judge upheld the agreed-upon sentence of 21 years.
Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck described the incident as a “senseless shooting” that claimed the life of an innocent young mother and left a child without her mother. He stated that Corbitt deserved every day of his prison sentence.