A Virginia man has learned his fate for shooting and killing his once-best friend in a violent case centered on an apparent love triangle.

Dustin Dove, 24, was sentenced Friday morning to life in prison for the murder of 22-year-old Seth Wallace in May 2024, local outlets, including Harrisonburg ABC affiliate WHSV, reported.

In April, a jury found Dove guilty of first-degree murder – though court records show he was originally charged with murder in the second degree. Dove”s defense team reportedly did not dispute that he had shot Wallace – but said he intended to injure, not to kill. Wallace died from his injuries less than three weeks after he was shot.

While the shooting occurred on May 24, 2024, the story goes back further. As detailed in Waynesboro Circuit Court, Dove and Wallace met at a Harrisonburg bar in 2022 and became “inseparable,” hanging out with each other all the time. But everything began to change in January 2024 when Dove was jailed and convicted on drug charges, his defense attorney said, per WHSV.

According to the defense attorney, Wallace was “inappropriate” with Dove’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Kaylee Turner, suggesting there was a complicated love triangle between the three individuals. But Turner allegedly told Dove about Wallace’s behavior, and they decided to “cut Seth out of their lives.”

Dove was reportedly released from jail, but violated his parole that May when he tested positive for drugs. With a return to jail looming, Wallace began to “manipulate” Turner by saying Dove had been cheating on her, the defense attorney said. And when Dove learned of this, the charged emotions are said to have been cranked even higher.

The two men sent “nasty, mean things” to each other, the defense attorney said, including Wallace allegedly targeting the cancer diagnosis of Dove’s mother. The texts continued until May 24, hours before Wallace was shot.

A digital forensics expert read the messages aloud in court, WHSV reported, with the messages including, “Dog, I’m going to destroy you” and “I’m going to get away with it.” At some point, Dove was even said to have recorded videos wearing a mask and holding the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting.

Then came the shooting itself. At about 4 a.m. on May 24, 2024, Dove and Turner drove to Wallace’s house on D Street in Waynesboro, prosecutors said. Dove hid in a location where he would be able to see Wallace, and when he did, he fired the gun. Fifteen bullet casings were reportedly later found, with eight of them being connected to bullets that had penetrated the victim’s skin.

The bullet wounds were mostly concentrated around Wallace’s groin and lower torso, prosecutors said. Body camera footage from responding Waynesboro police officers showed the victim struggling from the gunshot wounds but responsive.

“Who shot you?” one of them asked.

“Dustin … Dustin,” he managed to reply, eventually identifying Dove and leading to the man’s arrest the next day. Wallace’s wounds eventually became infected, sending him into septic shock and killing him.

The Waynesboro Police Department announced Dove’s arrest on May 25, 2024. It reportedly came after he and Turner drove to West Virginia to visit her father and talk about the murder.

Months after Wallace died, Dove is said to have written a rap song and sung it over a jail telephone line, with phrases including, “I don’t duck murders” and “He was my best friend, now he’s dead meat.”

Turner was also set to appear in court on Friday for a plea deal – having originally faced charges for accessory to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

A GoFundMe set up for Wallace said he was too “young to be taken” by an “act of hatred” and was “just starting” to really enjoy “life as a young man.”