LINCOLNWOOD, Ill. (AP) - The Latest on charges filed against teenager in death of Uber driver. (all times local):
8 p.m.
Horrifying and saddening is how the sister of an Uber driver is describing his death, allegedly at the hands of a teenage Chicago girl who is charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said Wednesday 16-year-old Eliza Wasni walked out of a suburban Chicago Walmart holding a machete and knife she’d stolen, climbed into an Uber car and began hacking at Grant Nelson.
The 34-year-old Nelson of Wilmette died of his wounds Tuesday after giving police a description of the attacker.
Police say they tracked down Wasni after she crashed Nelson’s car and tried to flee on foot. She was in possession of the machete and knife.
Nelson’s sister, Alexandra, says his death is a loss of intelligence, conversation, nuance and thoughtfulness that he brought to into many lives.
Assistant Public Defender David McMahon says Wasni has no previous criminal record, attends high school and lives with her mother.
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3:15 p.m.
Prosecutors say a teenage girl used a stolen machete and a knife during a fatal attack on a suburban Chicago Uber driver.
Eliza Wasni is charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the death of Grant Nelson of Wilmette. A Cook County judge on Wednesday ordered the 16-year-old Wasni of Chicago held without bond.
Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Cunningham says the 34-year-old Nelson picked up the girl near a Walmart in Skokie, from which she stole the machete. Within minutes, she was attacking Nelson. He managed to stop his car and run into a condominium building lobby where he sought help.
Cunningham says Wasni drove off in Nelson’s car, struck a median and then ran off. She was apprehended moments later after removing a bloody shirt.
Authorities say Nelson was able to describe his attacker to police before dying at a nearby hospital.
A public defender would only say Wasni attended a Chicago high school and lives with a single mother.
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1:26 p.m.
Authorities say a 16-year-old girl has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and accused of stabbing her Uber driver to death in suburban Chicago.
Lincolnwood police say they responded to a report of a man screaming for help at about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday when they found 34-year-old Grant Nelson of Wilmette with multiple stab wounds. They say Nelson told them he was a driver for the ride-sharing service Uber and that his passenger stabbed him. Police say they located Eliza Wasni near the crime scene in possession of two weapons they believe she used in the stabbing.
Nelson died later at a nearby hospital. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office says Wasni is scheduled to appear in bond court Wednesday afternoon in Skokie.
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