16-Year-Old Girl Allegedly Hacks Uber Driver To Death With Machete

Prosecutors say the attack was random and unprovoked.
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Authorities have charged a 16-year-old girl as an adult with first-degree murder after she allegedly used a knife and a machete to kill an Uber driver in a Chicago suburb.

Prosecutors allege that Eliza Wasni randomly attacked 34-year-old Grant Nelson in Lincolnwood and that it was unprovoked, The Chicago Tribune reports.

Cook County State’s Attorney Michelle Cunningham said at a Wednesday news conference that Wasni stole the weapons from a Walmart store around 3 a.m. Tuesday before summoning an Uber ride a few blocks away. She allegedly started stabbing and hacking Nelson after he picked her up.

Police said the driver then pulled the car over and fled into a nearby building, where he started pushing buzzers and yelling that he was “going to die.” He died of his injuries at a hospital hours later, according to The Associated Press.

Nelson’s family and friends remembered him as a kind and happy person.

“The loss of intelligence and conversation and nuance and thoughtfulness that he brought into all of our lives is going to be felt, and it will reverberate with us throughout the coming weeks and months and years, and it is not a hole that can be easily filled,” his sister, Alexandra, told ABC 7.

An Uber spokeswoman told HuffPost that the company is cooperating with local law enforcement in the case.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of one of our partners, Grant Nelson,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

Wasni is being held without bail in a juvenile facility.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Uber.

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