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Dustin Dove sentenced to life in prison for killing of Waynesboro man
WAYNESBORO — Dustin Dove has been sentenced to life in prison for the ambush killing of a Waynesboro man last year.
Dove, 23, learned his fate in Waynesboro Circuit Court on Aug. 15 when the sentence was handed down by Judge Paul Dryer.
Dove killed 22-year-old Seth Wallace, shooting him multiple times.
In April, a jury convicted Dove, of McGaheysville, on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Wallace, who had a young son, was shot during the early-morning hours of May 25, 2024, in the 1300 block of D Street in Waynesboro. Evidence showed that Dove fired 16 rounds at Wallace with a semi-automatic rifle, hitting him several times below the waist. A paramedic who took Wallace to the hospital testified at the trial that he had a massive wound to his right groin and said his femur bone was fragmented outward.
Evidence showed numerous shell casings were found within feet of Wallace, who was barely conscious when he told police Dove had shot him.
"He was shooting down on Seth Wallace when this occurred," Waynesboro Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Eduardo Garza said during Dove's sentencing hearing. "That is evidence of an execution."
Wallace survived for more than two weeks before succumbing to his injuries on June 12, 2024, at UVA Health in Charlottesville. Prior to his death, he had an arm and leg amputated, and one of his testicles had to be removed.
"He wanted to mutilate him. He wanted to emasculate him," Garza said of Dove.
Dove testified at his trial that he met Wallace by chance in 2022 at an arcade, where they struck up a friendship. But after Dove was briefly jailed on drug distribution charges stemming out of Rockingham County, he claimed Wallace began making disparaging remarks about him to Kaylee Turner, Dove's girlfriend at the time, causing a rift in their friendship.
On May 24, 2024, Dove said he began snorting cocaine and drinking heavily. While arguing with Turner, he said Wallace's name was brought up, prompting a heated text exchange between the two men. In one of the texts, Wallace disparaged a relative of Dove's.
"Seth is a dead man," read a text that Dove sent to a friend afterward.
Around 4 a.m. the following day, with Turner reportedly driving, Dove, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, continued to drink whiskey and do drugs on the way to Waynesboro. When he arrived on D Street, Dove testified at his trial that he got out of Turner's car and began watching Wallace, who was on his front porch looking at his cell phone. When Wallace came down to the street, Dove said he began to sneak up on him. But he told the jury he must have made a noise, which caused Wallace to turn his way. Dove said he immediately opened fire from close range.
After Dove was developed as a suspect, authorities arrested him that same day in Rockingham County. In Page County, where Dove's family owns land, two trash bags hidden under a rock were discovered. Inside the bags police found parts of a disassembled rifle, magazines, ammunition and a ski mask.
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Evidence at the April trial showed that Dove, while in jail, also wrote a rap song that referenced the killing.
During the sentencing phase, a probation and parole officer who prepared a presentence report testified that Dove came across as matter-of-fact and nonchalant. "It was just very cold," Jenna Wade said.
Given a chance to address the court before his sentence was handed down, Dove, the father of a 1-year-old daughter, apologized to Wallace's family and brought up his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and paranoia.
"I am truly sorry," Dove said.
Dove's attorney, Dana Cormier, asked for a sentence of 12 years, the low end of the state's guidelines.
In handing down the life sentence, plus three additional years for the gun charge, Judge Dryer said the state's sentencing guidelines, which called for up to 42 years, were inadequate.
"You essentially hunted him," Dryer said before sentencing Dove to life in prison.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@ You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Dustin Dove sentenced to life in prison in Waynesboro
