Prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old Seattle woman with the murder of a rideshare driver, stating she continued to drive his vehicle after the victim’s death for the next two and a half days through Renton, Kent, Skyway, Rainier Beach and the Seattle area.
King County prosecutors charged Neiana Allen-Bailey with one felony count of murder in the first degree, stating that Allen-Bailey killed Amare Geda, 52, while committing and attempting to commit the crime of robbery in the first degree.
According to charging documents, after killing Geda, Allen-Bailey left the scene in Geda’s vehicle and used the vehicle to visit her mother and brother in Skyway, smoke marijuana in Rainier Beach, and see a hairdresser in Kent.
She fueled Geda’s vehicle in Renton at the Brown Bear Car Cash and Chevron, she said to police in an interview, according to documents.
According to charging documents, Allen-Bailey shot Geda and left him in the street, tossing his cellphone down the road.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the Seattle Police Department was dispatched on Aug. 8 after receiving a report at approximately 3:28 a.m. of a person down in the street with blood surrounding him. First responders declared the man deceased at the scene.
An initial autopsy report identified Geda’s cause of death as resulting from a single gunshot, with the bullet passing through a major artery and his lungs and exiting his back.
Video surveillance of the incident shows Allen-Bailey walking to the driver’s side of Geda’s Prius and appearing to open the door, according to the affidavit. Geda exits the vehicle and stands up, and Allen-Bailey and Geda start physically interacting, appearing to struggle with one another.
Geda falls to the ground, lying motionlessly, and Allen-Bailey leaves and drives from the scene southbound in his Prius.
Seattle police arrested Allen-Bailey after responding to a parking complaint, identified the offending vehicle as Geda’s Prius, and waited for the driver to return.
In an interview with police, Allen-Bailey said she had approached Geda’s vehicle to ask him to take her to the hospital because of an injury she suffered in a fight up the street, according to the affidavit.
Allen-Bailey said she aimed a handgun and shot Geda after he grabbed her shoulders prior to leaving the scene and throwing Geda’s possessions from his vehicle.
Allen-Bailey remains in custody as of Aug. 15. The King County Superior Court set Allen-Bailey’s bail at $2 million as prosecutors argued for at her first appearance hearing. The court scheduled Allen-Bailey’s arraignment for Aug. 28.
Allen-Bailey faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted upon the murder charge.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
