Jury finds Sterling Heights man guilty of first-degree murder for killing girlfriend in 2023

A jury convicted a 45-year-old Sterling Heights, Michigan, man on Friday of first-degree premeditated murder for killing his girlfriend, Dhoua Lao, in 2023, according to online court records.

The jury found Martin Yost, 45, guilty of the charge following a two-week trial, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office said. 

According to prosecutors, Yost "brutally beat" Lao to death on Nov. 13, 2023, and was later found by Roseville, Michigan, police officers passed out in the driver's seat of his vehicle with Lao dead in the passenger seat. 

The prosecutor's office said Lao was the mother of two daughters who are unrelated to Yost. 

"This is a stark and tragic illustration of the ultimate and worst consequence of domestic violence," Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a written statement on Friday. "

Yost, who has been held without bond at the Macomb County Jail since November 2023, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 28, according to the prosecutor's office. Michigan law mandates that a person guilty of first-degree murder "shall be punished by imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole."

For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224. The prosecutor's office also urges anyone in need of help in Macomb County to call Turning Point at 586-463-6990 or, if it's an emergency, 911.