80-year-old Lyft driver picks up man without realizing the passenger just killed a woman and was about to shoot him dead

Background: A section of Wooddale Avenue in Memphis, Tenn. (Google Maps). Inset left: Joshua Gossett (Shelby County Sheriff's Office). Inset middle: Shunish Baggett (GoFundMe). Inset right: Richard Skelskey (Legacy Remembers).

A man in Tennessee will never see the outside of prison walls for killing a woman after taking a Lyft to her home and then calling another rideshare vehicle and fatally shooting its driver so he could escape.

Joshua Gossett, 32, was sentenced on Wednesday to 150 years in prison, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office announced. He was convicted by a jury in April of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Shunish Baggett and Richard Skelskey, as well as "related firearm charges."

On Oct. 30, 2022, Gossett "used the Lyft app to travel" to Baggett's home in Memphis, Tennessee, prosecutors said. According to local CBS affiliate WREG, she lived on Wooddale Avenue, which is located in the center of the city.

Once at the residence of Baggett, whose age is unclear, Gossett "shot and killed her," the DA's office stated. Authorities did not state the relationship between the two individuals, though a GoFundMe set up for her family about 10 days later stated that an "unknown suspect" killed her.

The same fundraiser said Baggett was found "dead on the kitchen floor" by her then-12-year-old daughter.

After killing Baggett, Gossett "used the app again to request a ride from the scene," prosecutors noted. Skelskey, an 80-year-old Lyft driver, accepted the request and headed to Baggett's home.

"After Skelskey picked him up, Gossett shot him in the head, stole his vehicle, and drove away," the DA's office added. Prosecutors said due to surveillance footage, forensic analysis, and the killer's "digital footprint," they were able to establish Gossett's identity and arrest him.

Skelskey's sister, Carol Soto, told local Fox affiliate WHBQ that her brother had recently started driving for Lyft and Uber to make extra money.

"What we do know is only that he was shot in the back of the head, the wounds look horrific, it was probably an execution," she added. "His car is missing, his wallet is missing, his phone is turned off."