Dante Bullock, a 37-year-old man from Syracuse, New York, had spent his life rooted in the city—educated in its public schools, graduating from Corcoran High School, studying sociology at Cayuga Community College, and working as a health care provider. On October 11, 2014, that ordinary, local life intersected with sudden violence in the early hours of a Saturday morning, turning a visit to a South Side home into a scene that would ripple through families on both sides of the courtroom for years.
Just before 3 a.m., police were called to the 200 block of West Calthrop Avenue. Investigators said Bullock was visiting someone at the house when a man came to the door and tried to force an armed robbery. In the chaos of that attempted takeover, Bullock stepped in—police said it appeared he tried to intervene—and he was shot at least once. He was rushed to Upstate University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. In the first hours after the shooting, investigators appealed for tips as they worked to piece together what happened at the door and who had run from the scene.
Within days, the investigation narrowed onto a named suspect. On October 15, 2014, Syracuse police announced the arrest of Larry W. Benton, then 27, of West Newell Street. Benton was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with Bullock’s killing, with police alleging Benton had come to that West Calthrop Avenue door intending to rob the person who answered, and that Bullock was shot when he intervened.
The case did not end with the arrest. Nearly two years later, the shooting returned to public view in a packed Syracuse courtroom at sentencing, after Benton was convicted of murdering Bullock during what authorities characterized as an armed robbery attempt. On May 13, 2016, Benton received a sentence of 15 years to life. He spoke briefly and apologized to Bullock’s family and to his own, while Bullock’s loved ones described the pain that still followed them after what they called a senseless loss.
