SEATTLE — The community came together at Abu-Bakr Islamic Center in Tukwila Wednesday to support the family of Mohamed Kediye who was shot and killed while driving for Lyft in downtown Seattle last weekend.
Kediye, 48, was a supportive father who just wanted to provide a better life for his six children and wife, his family said.
“It’s so sad... Yesterday they had a father, today they don’t have a father, they don’t have anyone to support them,” said Ahmad Geelle, a family friend.
Kediye was shot and killed Sunday at 8:30 p.m. near the corner of 7th Avenue and Lenora Street in downtown Seattle. The family said he was parked on the side of the road, about to complete his last ride of the night for Lyft, before returning home. According to the family, police told them a vehicle pulled alongside his car and that’s when someone shot and killed Kediye.
“The family they need... to have justice for the beloved one, that they lost in downtown Seattle,” said Geelle.
Meanwhile, friends from the Seattle Rideshare Drivers Association are shaken up by the death of one of their own.
“They have been in a state of shock for quite a while and have advocated that the safety of the drivers be a priority for the city,” said Ahmed Mumin, the executive director of Seattle Rideshare Drivers Association
Mumin said this is the fourth rideshare driver who has been killed in the Seattle area while on the job in the past two years.
“When is enough, we are calling for the Transportation Network Companies to sit down with the associations and the community drivers and come up with a solution, we don’t have a quick solution, but I know that there is a solution out there,” he said.
The Seattle Rideshare Drivers Association is holding a demonstration on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the old Islamic School of Seattle near the corner of 25th and Cherry Street demanding justice for Kediye’s death.
If you’d like to support the family, you can donate to their GoFundMe page here.
The Seattle Police Department told KING 5 that as of 2:30 pm on Wednesday there were no updates to the case.
A Lyft spokesperson said in a statement:
"The events described are heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with the driver's loved ones and everyone who has been impacted by this tragedy. We are working to make contact with the driver's family as soon as possible, have been in touch with the rider to offer our support, and have reached out to law enforcement to offer our assistance with their investigation."