A 16-year-old Dolton boy remains detained after he allegedly used a ghost gun to fatally shoot his Uber driver, whom he dragged into the street after planning to carjack him late last month in Chatham, prosecutors said Thursday.
Demari Taylor, of Dolton, was arrested Tuesday at his home and charged as an adult with first-degree murder, armed robbery and vehicular hijacking in connection with the death of Altmann Mnyuku, Chicago police said.
Taylor and his brothers were at their home around 1 a.m. July 31 when the teen asked for an Uber ride to meet with friends in the city, Assistant State's Attorney Eleanor Betar said during Taylor's first court appearance Thursday.
The Uber ride was accepted at 1:38 a.m. by 35-year-old driver Mnyuku, who picked up Taylor to make the 7-mile trip north, according to Betar.
During the drive to the 600 block of East 90th Street in Chatham, Taylor texted with a person known as "Trench" to discuss a plan to take Mnyuku's 2019 Jeep Cherokee at gunpoint when they arrived to the block, according to Betar.
Trench instructed Taylor to put a gun to the victim's head and tell the victim to get out of the vehicle or he would die, Betar said. Trench also told Taylor that when he put the gun to the victim's head, he would run up to the Uber, according to Betar.
At some point during the ride, Taylor allegedly shot Mnyuku and texted Trench that he "didn’t think Mnyuku would make it out of the situation," Betar said.
The Jeep drove slowly to a home in the 600 block of East 90th Street, where Taylor allegedly left the Jeep and dragged Mnyuku out of the driver's seat and onto the street, officials said.
Taylor entered the Jeep and tried to drive away but could not because the wheels began "screeching," so he left it, Betar said.
A woman who was nearby in a Dodge Charger found Mnyuku in the street unresponsive and called 911, officials said. Mnyuku was shot in his neck and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:21 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Mnyuku's Jeep was still in the middle of the street with the engine running when he was found, authorities said. His keys and an envelope he kept with $3,000 were missing.
An autopsy determined Mnyuku died of a gunshot wound to his head, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Taylor didn’t return home until after midnight Aug. 1 and told his brother the robbery had gone wrong and Mnyuku died, according to Betar.
A search warrant for Taylor's home yielded a backpack with a loaded 9 mm ghost gun near the air mattress in the dining room near where Taylor slept. The gun was consistent with a description given by Taylor's brothers, who knew he kept the gun, officials said.
Ghost guns are firearms that buyers assemble themselves without serial numbers, making them easy to obtain and hard to trace. Some are “printed” on 3-D printers and include no metal, allowing owners to carry them undetected through metal detectors.
Taylor's brothers identified him in photos by his footwear, clothing and the way he walked, Betar said.
Taylor's cellphone was in his possession and showed communications, location data and photos of the gun consistent with the shooting, prosecutors said.
Uber spokesperson Austen Radcliff said in an emailed statement the company has offered support to Mnyuku’s family.
“We grieve the loss Mr. Mnyuku and cannot imagine the pain felt by his family and loved ones," Radcliff said in the statement. "We’ve been in touch with police and will continue to do whatever we can to help bring the individuals responsible for this heinous violence to justice.”
Relatives of Mnyuku and Taylor could not be reached immediately.
Taylor, who has no prior criminal history, is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 26.
