Man sentenced to 17 years for shooting into bus, killing CATS driver during argument

Jeff A. Chamer
·1 min read

A man who shot and killed Ethan Rivera, a Charlotte Area Transit System bus driver, in 2022 pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Darian Dru Thavychith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle, The Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC reported. Thavychith was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years in prison.

On Feb. 11, 2022, Thavychith shot into Rivera’s bus that night and killed him in what appeared to be the result of road rage, authorities previously said.

There were four other passengers on the No. 22 Graham Street bus, the Observer previously reported, but no one was injured. Thavychith remained in his vehicle during the shooting, CMPD previously said, and there was no other passenger with him.

Police picked Thavychith up in Shawnee, Kansas, after a two-week manhunt, in March 2022. In September, Mecklenburg County prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty in the case. And in October, he received no bond.

For those felonies, the 22-year-old Thavychith faces a maximum sentence of 57 years in prison. Per his plea deal, WSOC reported, he was sentenced to 157 to 201 months, or about 13 to 17 years, for the second-degree murder charge. He was also sentenced 64 to 89 months, or about five to seven years, for the other charge.

The sentences will be served concurrently. Thavychith will get credit for time served already that will go towards that sentence.

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