A Lyft passenger stabbed his pregnant driver, killing her and the unborn child before stealing her car and driving off on the Arizona interstate, the police said.
On January 27, Fabian Durazo, 20, stabbed Kristina Howato, 30, with a knife while she was inside the car. He continued stabbing her when she exited the sports utility vehicle, Tempe police said.
Ms Howato was in her third trimester at the time of the attack. She is also the mother of two children: a two-year-old and a four-year-old.
She was working when she received a pickup request from Durazo in west Tempe, according to a police spokesman. The suspect then allegedly began stabbing Ms Howato when they arrived at an apartment complex less than a mile away from the pickup location.
Police officers went to the apartment complex at 1.30am after receiving 911 calls of a woman screaming in the parking lot.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Ms Howato bleeding and suffering from multiple stab wounds. She was taken to a nearby hospital she and her unborn child died.
“Throughout our careers as officers, we have incidents that really, really touch our hearts and stay with you throughout your careers,” Sergeant Ron Elcock said at a news conference.
“This is definitely one of those incidents that really is going to affect the police department for a long time.”
The authorities don’t believe Durazo and Ms Howato knew each other. The motive of the attack remains undetermined.
Following the attack, Durazo stole Ms Howato’s vehicle and drove 150 miles before being arrested near the California line.
Arizona Public Safety officials were able to locate the stolen vehicle using GPS tracking and discovered it on Interstate 10 near Quartzsite, a town about 25 miles from where the Grand Canyon state shares its border with California.
In a statement, Lyft said they were assisting with the investigation and permanently banned Durazo’s account.
“We were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of this tragedy, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims,” the statement read.
Durazo is held at La Paz County jail on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, as well as one count each of kidnapping and armed robbery.
