PONTIAC, Mich. – A Pontiac woman wants justice after her family member was killed while driving for Lyft.
The incident occurred Friday (Oct. 21), and a 19-year-old is facing charges.
Raven Brantley is still asking why 19-year-old Kemarrie Phillips would allegedly shoot her aunt, 49-year-old Dina May-Terrell, in the back of the head during a Lyft ride.
“Seeing the guy, putting a face to it, still doesn’t give us that closure or answer the question, why,” said Brantley.
Phillips was officially charged with open murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony on Tuesday. He is being held without bond at the Oakland County jail.
Read: Teen charged with killing Lyft driver in Oakland County by shooting her in head from back seat
Brantley says it doesn’t make things better because they still need to make sense of it all.
“What was the motive here,” Brantley said. “I really just want justice for my aunt.”
May-Terrell was a breast cancer survivor who only took the job with the ride-sharing app to make ends meet on top of dealing with the grief of unexpectedly losing a loved one. The family claims Lyft isn’t offering much other than condolences. They say their apologies don’t do much to prevent such a thing from occurring again.
“My aunt was murdered on the job,” Brantley said. “This is an ongoing issue. This is not just the first time it’s happened, and this is not going to be the last.”
A legal loophole may also complicate things further.
“They give me a policy number to a policy that doesn’t cover anything like assault,” Brantley said. “They don’t cover homicides. They cover accidents.”
With that said, a GoFundMe page is the only thing helping May-Terrell’s family to pay for her burial expenses.
“Just really trying to get her laid to rest how she’s supposed to,” Brantley said.
Phillips is facing life in prison if convicted. He’s due back in court on Nov. 3.
No one from Lyft got back to Local 4 to comment on the matter. Brantley says she doesn’t want this to happen to anyone else.
