In the early morning hours of February 5, 2016, the quiet of a northwest Atlanta neighborhood was broken by the sight of a taxi cab that had backed into a light pole on Spencer Street. The driver's side door was left agape, and just outside the vehicle, lay the unconscious body of Mamadou Matesso, a male driver for Five Star Taxi. Emergency services were called to the scene around 3 a.m., and Matesso was quickly transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was tragically pronounced dead.
When police began their investigation, they discovered that Matesso's wallet and cellphone were missing, suggesting that robbery may have been a motive in his death. A significant lead was found inside the abandoned taxi: a driver's license belonging to a man named Stephan Fitzgerald. Investigators believed Fitzgerald had been a passenger in Matesso's cab and publicly identified him as a person of interest, expressing a desire to question him about the events that transpired that morning.
Despite the initial lead, the trail of information regarding the investigation into Mamadou Matesso's death grows cold. Publicly available information does not indicate whether Stephan Fitzgerald was ever located or if any arrests were made in connection with the case. The resolution of the investigation and the ultimate question of who was responsible for the death of the taxi driver remain unanswered in published reports. The case, which began with a mysterious scene on a dark Atlanta street, fades from the public eye without a clear conclusion.
