D.C. police said Friday they arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy in the deadly 2023 shooting of a Lyft driver who had worked as an Afghan interpreter with the U.S. military.
Metropolitan Police said the boy was taken into custody on first-degree murder charges in the death of Nasrat Ahmad Yar, 31, in Northeast last July.
Assistant police Chief Leslie Parsons said Yar had just completed a trip around 12:10 a.m. on July 3 when a group of juveniles tried to carjack him in the 400 block of 11th Street NE.
One of the boys shot Yar during the stickup before they ran off. The victim died in a hospital a short time later.
Yar had spent most of his adult life working as an interpreter during the Afghanistan war.
He and his family sought refuge in the U.S. after Taliban forces took over the country again in 2021. They eventually found a home in Alexandria.
On the night he was killed, Yar, a father of four, was working as a rideshare driver to help cover his rent.
“The reckless actions of these teens cost a man’s life and shattered a family just starting out on their journey in this country,” Chief Parsons said. “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.”
Yar’s funeral last year was attended by U.S. military veterans and Afghans. He was buried in a cemetery at the All Muslim Association of America in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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