Passenger Killed Lyft Driver and Then Used Blood-Stained Car to Visit Family, Police Say
A Lyft driver was murdered by a passenger who then used the still-bloodstained vehicle to travel to a family function, police in Indiana say.
Devin Powell, 24, was still in possession of the white 2013 GMC Acadia when officers tracked him down in Merrillville, about 142 miles from where they say he shot 34-year-old Anthony Garland dead in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Star reports.
Garland’s body was found in a grassy area near an Indianapolis roadside on June 30, with a gunshot wound to his head and several others on his body, police said.
Investigators were able to identify him after his wife reported him missing that same day, saying the last time she’d spoken to him was when he was working for Lyft around midnight, according to the Star.
The trail then led to Powell after Lyft records listed him as the last passenger picked up that night, police said.
Powell was subsequently taken into custody by police in Merrillville, still driving Garland’s Acadia. A probable-cause affidavit cited by the Indianapolis Star noted that bloodstains were still visible on the center console of the vehicle. Powell had reportedly purchased new seat covers in a bid to hide some of the stains, however.
Court documents say he initially claimed to have found the vehicle abandoned, before eventually telling investigators Garland was his Lyft driver and the shooting was in “self-defense,” claiming Garland had tried to “screw him over and take his money.”
He allegedly admitted to pulling Garland’s body out of the vehicle after shooting him, and dumping him along the road before making off with the car.
A passenger who was with Powell in the vehicle when police finally caught up with him in Merrillville identified himself as a cousin, saying he believed the car was Powell’s and that he’d driven up for a family gathering.
Powell now faces preliminary charges of murder and robbery. It was not immediately clear if he had retained a lawyer as of Wednesday morning.
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