In the early morning hours of September 21, 2015, Mamadou Barry, a 39-year-old Black / African American livery cab driver, was found deceased in his green Lincoln Town Car in the Bronx, New York. A father of three with a fourth child on the way, Barry was discovered in the driver's seat at the intersection of East 189th Street and Beaumont Avenue with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Police pronounced him dead at the scene around 1:30 a.m.
Investigators believe that Barry picked up a passenger in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, near East 138th Street and Brook Avenue. The ride, which should have been a routine fare, stretched for about six miles to the Belmont neighborhood. It was there, police suspect, that the passenger attempted to rob Barry, a tragic encounter that ended with the driver being shot. Witnesses in the area reported hearing three gunshots before Barry's vehicle crashed into a hair salon. The suspect was seen on surveillance video fleeing the scene on foot, initially described as a man with a thin build and a medium complexion, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and light-colored shorts.
The death of Mamadou Barry, an immigrant from Guinea who had lived in the U.S. for about 15 years, sent shockwaves through his community and the city's taxi industry. Fellow drivers, mourning the loss of one of their own, expressed deep concerns about their safety and renewed calls for protective measures such as partitions and surveillance cameras in all cabs. The Guinean community gathered in large numbers to mourn and pray for Barry, remembering him as a cherished friend and family man.
Days after the shooting, the investigation led to an arrest. On September 24, 2015, the New York Police Department took 24-year-old Nicholas Sanchez into custody. Sanchez, a resident of the Bronx, was subsequently charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. During his arraignment, his lawyer maintained his innocence, pointing to a discrepancy between his client's short stature and the individual seen in the surveillance footage.
