Man sentenced to 45 years to life in shooting that kills 2 at Dayton gas station

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

A 34-year-old man found guilty of shooting and killing two women at a Dayton gas station was sentenced to more than four decades in prison Wednesday afternoon.

Deante Taviann Holden was sentenced to 45 years to life, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

A jury found Holden guilty of four counts each of murder and felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence in July.

He was convicted of murdering 38-year-old Felicia Brown and 44-year-old Michaela Daniels on Feb. 26, 2023, at the Shell gas station at 4125 W. Third St.

“This is probably one of the most brutal murders that I’ve seen in my time at Dayton PD,” Dayton police Maj. Brian Johns previously said. “The callousness was just shocking. You think you’ve seen it all, but I really haven’t.”

The shooting happened at 2 a.m., but police were not called until three hours later when a gas station attendant reportedly thought someone was trying to steal a vehicle and hit a silent alarm.

Surveillance video showed an apparent struggle take place in the vehicle and then a suspect, later identified as Holden, get out and fire shots inside the vehicle before fleeing, according to Dayton Municipal Court records.

Multiple people reportedly went to the vehicle after the shooting, but before police arrived.

One person looked inside the vehicle and left, Johns said. Shortly after, Holden arrived with another man in a black Chrysler.

Holden took the women’s cellphones and bullet casings from the ground before leaving approximately two minutes before police arrived, according to municipal court records.

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