13-year-old admits to murdering Uber Eats driver in car jacking
The Pakistani immigrant had come to the US in 2004 to make a better life for himself and his family
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A 13-year-old girl pleaded guilty on Thursday to a murder charge in a carjacking incident in March in which a 66-year-old Pakistani-origin Uber Eats driver was tasered and killed.
Two teenage girls — 15 and 13 — assaulted Mohammad Anwar of Springfield, Va, with a taser at about 4.30 pm in Washington DC on 23 March. The Uber Eats driver died in a crash in Southeast DC near the Nationals Park.
The teenager appeared in a virtual court hearing where she pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Anwar. Another teenager, 15, had pleaded guilty to murder charges last month.
Anwar was a Pakistani immigrant who had come to the US in 2004 to make a better life for himself and his family. A disturbing video of the carjacking in which Anwar died was posted on Twitter, leading to anger and outrage.
After the attempted carjacking by the teenagers, Anwar was dragged and killed in the 1200-block of Van Street, police said. Members of fire and emergency medical services of the first district had arrived on the scene of the crash and found Anwar with life-threatening injuries.
He was transported to a hospital by the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services but was pronounced dead by the doctors.
The 13-year-old is from Southeast DC while the 15-year-old is from Fort Washington, Md. Police have not revealed their identities because of their age.
Other charges against the 13-year-old girl, including armed carjacking, will be dropped.
Prosecutors on Thursday said Anwar had agreed to give both girls a ride in his Honda Accord but when he pulled onto a side street near Nationals Park, they attempted to steal his car and his personal belongings. Prosecutors also said that Anwar had asked people on the street to help him, but the 15-year-old had said that the car belonged to their mother.
During the virtual court hearing, Circuit Court judge Lynn Leibovitz asked the teenager whether the details of the case were true. The girl said “yes.”
Fox News reported that the judge asked her to raise her right hand. The judge asked: “How do you plead?” The girl said: “Guilty.”
More than $1m has been raised from a GoFundMe page for Anwar’s family.
The 13-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced on 6 July. If she takes the plea deal, she will be released from prison when she turns 21 if a maximum sentence is imposed.
The GoFundMe page details what his family is feeling at the moment.
“Words can not describe how our family is feeling currently. Devastation, confusion, shock, anger, heartache, and anguish are just a few that come to mind. We will carry him with us always, but it doesn’t take the pain away of losing him so tragically and so unexpectedly soon,” the description on the page said.
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