Ride share drivers outraged after Lyft driver shot and killed
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ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — A Lyft driver was shot and killed in north St. Louis City Thursday night, marking the city’s 58th homicide victim. The ride sharing community is shocked and disappointed about the killing of Elijah Newman.
“It makes me a little more weary and makes me more conscious of where I am and who I’m picking up,” TJ Shamon said. He’s been driving for Uber and Lyft since 2017.
Shamon said he felt anger when he learned about Newman’s death. A 17-year-old was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death. Newman was 45 years old.
“Be aware of your surroundings,” Shamon said. “Be aware of who you’re picking up. Don’t pick up somebody you don’t wanna have in your vehicle.”
Shamon has been driving for a few years now but he leaned more on ride share driving in March of 2020 when COVID-19 shut down his business.
“This gives me an opportunity to be of service to the community. My oldest grandson was killed by a drunk driver … so that’s part of it too,” Shamon said.
Shamon says he wants to see ride share companies taking better safety precautions for their drivers.
“You may not have noticed but when I pull up to a stop light, I don’t pull up to the car in front of me, there’s space in between,” Shamon said. “That allows me to get out of the way in case some knuckleheads decide they wanna approach the car and drag us out of it.”
Shamon’s even played out dangerous scenarios, so he’s prepared to protect his passengers and himself.
“If I get them where they’re going safely, then I got a real good chance of returning to my family safely,” Shamon said.
Friends have started a GoFundMe account to help Newman’s family with expenses.
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