ROSEVILLE, Mich. – A Sterling Heights man was sentenced on Thursday to life without the possibility of parole for killing his girlfriend in 2023.
A Macomb County jury convicted Martin Yost, 45, of first-degree murder in June for brutally beating Dhoua Lao, of Sterling Heights, to death.
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According to authorities, police found Yost covered in blood and passed out in the driver’s seat of his vehicle in November 2023, with Lao’s body in the passenger seat on Gratiot Avenue, near I-94 in Roseville.
Lao, a mother of two who was 45 at the time of her death, appeared to have “sustained significant trauma to her head and face.”
Police believe Lao was assaulted in Detroit, put in the vehicle, and then driven to the Roseville location where police found her.
Yost was initially charged with second-degree murder, but after a two-week trial, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.
“This is a stark and tragic illustration of the ultimate and worst consequence of domestic violence,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said after Yost’s conviction. “No verdict can undo the profound loss suffered by the victim’s family, but we hope this outcome brings them a measure of peace and closure.”
Michigan’s Domestic Violence Hotline is free, anonymous and available 24/7 by calling 866-864-2338 or texting 877-861-0222. Domestic violence resources are also available from the National Domestic Violence Hotline at thehotline.org or 800-799-7233 and Turning Point at 586-463-6990.