Uber rider sentenced for killing in Carrick

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman wondered who he was about to sentence:

Derek Vasos, a loving father who had no criminal history, worked as a medical device salesman and was known to perform random acts of kindness?

Or Derek Vasos, the man who carried a gun into a bar, got drunk, then shot an unarmed man from inside an Uber?

“Your explanation as to how this occurred was incredible,” Judge Cashman told the defendant. He then sentenced Vasos to 15 to 30 years in prison.

Vasos, 38, was found guilty by a jury in October of third-degree murder. He claimed self-defense, arguing that he feared Donald Ketter Jr., 28, of Allentown, was about to attack him.

But Judge Cashman discounted those claims.

“There was no danger you were in. You weren’t going to suffer serious bodily injury or death.”

At trial, testimony showed that Vasos had gotten into an Uber after leaving an after-hours club in Carrick early Feb. 5.

As the Uber was pulling away, Mr. Ketter blocked its path. Vasos, who was sitting in the Uber’s front passenger seat, honked the car’s horn, but Mr. Ketter didn’t move.

Vasos testified that Mr. Ketter appeared to be in a rage, took off his belt and wrapped it around his hand in what he interpreted as a threat. As Mr. Ketter approached Vasos’ window, Vasos pulled his gun and fired once out of fear. He left in the Uber, eventually turning himself in hours later.

Robin Ketter, the victim’s mother, called Vasos a “coward” — not only for killing Mr. Ketter, but for fleeing the scene. “He murdered my son and shattered my family forever,” she said. “Derek Vasos showed no mercy to Donald or my family. In return, I’m asking Derek Vasos be shown no mercy.”

Several people spoke on Vasos’ behalf, including family members and friends — all recounting his positive outlook and ability to cheer up those around him.

Vasos, who cried throughout the proceeding, spoke at length — repeatedly apologizing to the Ketter family, saying he prays for them every day, and asking the court to consider the good life he had led up until the shooting.

“I’ve gone through each and every would have, could have and should have,” Vasos said. “I’m not a malicious man.”

Defense attorney Phillip DiLucente asked the court to allow his client to serve his sentence at the county jail, which would mean less than two years of incarceration.

But Judge Cashman noted such a sentence would be more than five years less than the punishment called for in the mitigated range.

“There is no reason Donald Ketter should be dead,” the judge said.

Mr. Ketter’s family sought the maximum possible sentence for third-degree murder — 20 to 40 years.