Female Carjacker gets 230 months Imprisonment

Back in December 2007, Latosha N. Mathis of Columbus, Ohio, approached a cable TV guy who was chilling in his company's van in a parking lot on the north side of Columbus.

August 27, 2008

COLUMBUS OH NEWS -- In the United States District Court of Ohio, Latosha N. Mathis, aka Shahanna Byrd, a 34 year-old female, was sentenced to 230 months imprisonment for carjacking a cable technician's van and shooting the driver when he tried to escape. Mathis had pleaded guilty on June 24, 2008 to one count of carjacking and one count of use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

On December 4, 2007, Mathis of Columbus, Ohio, approached a cable television company technician who was chilling in his company's van in a parking lot on the north side of Columbus. Mathis pointed her gun at him, forced her way into the driver's seat of the van and began driving.

Demanding money, Mathis took the technician's wallet, and then demanded to know where the cable guy lived. When he told Mathis that he had no money at his house, Mathis popped of a round into the floorboard of the van. The cable guy then jumped from the moving van in an effort to escape, sadly Mathis shot him in his back when he bailed. Police found the abandoned van later at a nearby apartment complex.

Law enforcement investigators tracked down Mathis through the victim's cell phone, which Mathis had continued to use. Members of the Columbus FBI Violent Crime Task Force arrested Mathis at her apartment on December 5, 2007, recovering the victim's cell phone and wallet. She has been in custody since her arrest.

Gregory G. Lockhart United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio commended the cooperative investigation by Columbus Police officers and members of the Violent Crime Task Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Devillers, who prosecuted the case. Additionally, US Attorney Lockhart, Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Columbus Police Chief James G. Jackson announced the sentence handed down yesterday by Senior United States District Judge John D. Holschuh.

So, Latosha N. Mathis will be around 54 years old when she is released from federal prison, provided her sentence vis not reduced on appeal. That should slow her drive to commit violent crimes such as carjacking and murder down some.

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