Rock Hill man sentenced in fatal shooting resulting from ‘bizarre love triangle’

Richard Estes, 33, was sentenced to seven years in prison in the October 2016 shooting of his wife’s lover, 30-year-old Michael Tyson Dilda.

Prosecutors said Dilda was shot in the chest at his home on Oleen Cove Road on the morning of Oct. 17, 2016, with the suspect’s wife, Christina Estes, in the home.

Richard Estes’ 11-year-old daughter from a previous relationship sat in the car outside, prosecutors said.

At a Thursday hearing at the Moss Justice Center, Richard Estes entered a guilty plea for a charge of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a lesser sentence than the original charges: murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Prosecutors and Dilda’s family called for the maximum 10-year sentence after negotiation.

"My son was no saint but none of us are,” said William Dilda, the victim’s father. “And he did not deserve to have his life taken the way it was taken."

William Dilda said his son returned to York County to “do right by his son,” a child the victim had with Christina Estes in high school.

Richard Estes’ defense attorney, Jim Boyd, and Estes’ friends called for the minimum sentence of two years. Estes has already served 309 days in house arrest after he was released on a $50,000 bond in November 2016.

Richard Estes showed up to the bond hearing in 2016 with two swollen and bruised eyes. Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III, who granted the bond, said in 2016 he was concerned about his safety in jail.

“I understand he’s been beat up since he’s been incarcerated,” Hayes said, “by somebody in revenge for this event.”

Thursday, Christina Estes’ mother, Pamela Slagle, said she was afraid for her son-in-law’s safety, and afraid for her grandchildren’s future.

Christina Estes has one child by Dilda, one child by Estes and one child by another man. Richard Estes has one child by a previous relationship as well. Slagle said all the children see Estes as their father.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 8:24 PM with the headline "Rock Hill man sentenced in fatal shooting resulting from ‘bizarre love triangle’."