Teen pleads guilty to murder for fatal carjacking of Uber driver

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 4

May 12, 2021

One of the teenage girls charged in the killing of a 66-year-old Uber Eats driver has pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in the fatal carjacking in Washington, D.C. in March.

The 15-year-old, whose name is being withheld because she’s a minor, had been charged with felony murder, armed carjacking, robbery, and aggravated reckless driving. Claire Huber, a spokesperson for DC Courts, confirmed that the Attorney General’s Office agreed to drop all other charges if the teenager accepted a plea deal, NBC News reports.

theGRIO previously reported that the two teenage girls were in custody after Uber Eats driver Mohammad Anwar, an immigrant who lived in Springfield, Virginia, was killed during a hijacking in Washington, D.C. The suspects carjacked the victim with a weapon and crashed the car. Part of the incident was caught on video.

Anwar was working in the city’s southeastern quadrant when the girls, ages 13 and 15, approached him and brandished a stun gun. A witness of the carjacking captured the incident on his camera phone, and the footage was released by TMZ. In the video, the 66-year-old man can be seen leaning out of the open front door of the car crying out, “This is my car!” One teen can be seen in the front passenger’s seat motioning toward another person behind the wheel. The two can be heard yelling commands at one another when the engine starts and revs up.

Moments later, the car speeds off down the street with Anwar hanging out and the door slams into a light pole. The camera follows the car as it turns the corner and out of sight, followed by the sound of screeching brakes and a loud crash. The video then shows the sedan turned over on its side and the girls climb out from the window. Anwar received life-threatening injuries from the crash and later died at the hospital.

The two teen girls were arrested and charged with felony murder and armed carjacking.

The 15-year-old girl’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 4. A court appearance for the unnamed 13-year-old has been rescheduled for May 19, according to the report.

“We are devastated by this tragic news and our hearts go out to Mohammad’s family during this difficult time,” Uber said in a statement in March. “We’re grateful the suspects have been arrested and thank the Metropolitan Police Department for their diligence with this investigation.”

A GoFundMe page was created to help Anwar’s family and it raised more than $1 million before the campaign stopped accepting donations. The page describes him as “a hard-working Pakistani immigrant who came to the United States to create a better life for him and his family.”

“He was simply at work … providing for his family, when his life was tragically taken in an appalling act of violence,” the page states. “Anwar was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend who always provided a smile when you needed one. He leaves behind a family, near and far, who cherish, love, and miss him dearly.”

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