A 15-year-old boy was arrested Friday morning in connection with the July killing of a Lyft driver in D.C., according to police.
Nasrat Ahmad Yar, 31, of Alexandria, Virginia, was fatally shot on July 3 in the 400 block of 11th Street NE. The teen is charged with felony murder while armed in Ahmad Yar’s death.
According to police, Yar, who came to the D.C. area after spending years working with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, was working for Lyft when he was shot.
“He was working extremely hard to support his family. He had just dropped off a passenger and was sitting in his vehicle when he was approached by several young suspects. It appears, through our investigation, that these suspects may have been trying to take his vehicle,” Assistant D.C. Police Chief Leslie Parsons said.
During that interaction, Parsons said, one of the suspects shot Yar. The group then ran away and was captured on surveillance video, which Parsons said was instrumental in leading to Friday’s arrest of the “primary suspect.” It is the first arrest after an eight-month investigation, police said.
Yar spent most of his adult life working as a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan before escaping to America in search of a better life for his wife and four children.
Afghans and U.S. military veterans gathered for a July funeral service at the All Muslim Association of America in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
“He was so generous. He was so nice. He was always trying to help the people,” Rahim Amini, a fellow Afghan immigrant and longtime friend, said at the time of the funeral. He told The Associated Press that Yar always reminded him, “Don’t forget the people left behind.”
Amini said Yar had worked for the U.S. military for about a decade as an interpreter and doing other jobs, seeing it as a way to help pave the way for the next generation in Afghanistan to have a better life.
D.C. police are still searching for several other suspects in connection with Yar’s killing.
“The reckless actions of these teens cost a man’s life and shattered a family just starting out on their journey in this country. No arrest will be able to make them whole, but today’s news sends a message loud and clear to those looking to introduce guns on our streets: our detectives do not rest until the reckless actions like this are met with severe consequences,” Parsons said.
WTOP’s Matt Kaufax and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
