WASHINGTON — A man was sentenced to 21 ½ years in prison Friday after prosecutors said he took over a Metrobus and fatally struck another man with it two years ago in Northeast D.C.
Keith Loving, 33, of D.C., was apparently under the influence of PCP at the time of his crimes, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for D.C. Loving pleaded guilty in July to charges of voluntary manslaughter while armed and carjacking. He will have five years of supervised release following his time in prison.
Prosecutors said that in May 2016, Loving got on a Metrobus in the 3800 block of Jay Street Northeast and stayed near the bus driver as the bus took off. The driver asked Loving if he was OK because he was breathing heavily.
Loving then yelled at the driver and lunged at him with a pair of needle-nose pliers. They struggled, but the driver managed to disarm Loving. Prosecutors said Loving, however, was able to push the driver off the bus, shut the doors, get into the driver’s seat and drive off in the Metrobus.
As Loving drove the Metrobus, prosecutors said he struck the side of a Seabury Connector bus, which had seniors on it. He continued to drive recklessly and was even going into opposite lanes of traffic.
Loving then struck a man while trying to pull out of a gas station parking lot in the 4200 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue Northeast. The victim was 40-year-old Anthony C. Payne.
Prosecutors said Loving stopped the bus but stayed behind the wheel. Payne was taken to the hospital where he died shortly after.
Loving was arrested on the scene and taken to a hospital with minor injuries. D.C. police officers guarding him heard him tell hospital staff that he had smoked K-2 and PCP before he went on his crime spree.
He had tested positive for PCP when he was arrested and had been in custody ever since.
