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GoFundMe raises $1m for family of murdered Uber Eats driver as teen jailed for the crime

Two teenagers pled guilty to the second-degree murder of 66-year-old Mohammad Anwar

Danielle Zoellner
New York
Wednesday 07 July 2021 18:50 BST
Mohammad Anwar, 66, was killed in Washington DC during a car hijacking
Mohammad Anwar, 66, was killed in Washington DC during a car hijacking (Lehra Bogino/GoFundMe)
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A GoFundMe was set up for the family of an Uber Eats driver after he was killed during an armed hijacking – and it has raised more than $1 million.

Mohammad Anwar, 66, of Springfield, Virginia, was working in Washington DC on 23 March when two teenage girls assaulted the man with a stun gun and attempted to steal his car, according to police.

The two girls, ages 13 and 15 at the time of the incident, jumped into Mr Anwar’s Honda Accord in Washington DC’s Navy Yard and drove off with it while the man clung to the side of the vehicle.

They crashed the car, and the man, who was married with three adult children and four grandchildren, died from the incident.

“Mohammad Anwar was a hard-working Pakistani immigrant who came to the United States to create a better life for him and his family,” the GoFundMe page states. “He was simply at work yesterday evening, providing for his family, when his life was tragically taken in an appalling act of violence.”

More than $1 million has been raised for the family since starting the fundraiser three months ago.

One girl, who was 13 years old at the time of the incident, was ordered by a judge on Tuesday to remain in the custody of Washington DC’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services until she turns 21. This came after she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in June.

“I never meant to do it,” the teenager said in court on Tuesday, adding, “I will change,” according to The Washington Post.

The other teeanger, who was 15 at the time of the crime, also received the same sentence.

During her sentencing, the 15-year-old told Mr Anwar’s family, “No matter how much stuff I’ve been through, I would never intentionally murder someone,” according to The Washington Post.

Police have not publicly identified the teenagers due to their age.

Mr Anwar’s daughter spoke out against the two children following the 15-year-old’s sentencing.

“I cannot move past that sidewalk on N Street on March 23rd, where he lay broken, while one of you was only concerned about your phone,” she said, Washington’s Top News reported. “You broke most of the bones in his body. No amount of years you spend in any facility can ever make you go through even one per cent of that pain.”

She added: “I can never, and will never, forgive you for the pain you caused him.”

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