On the night of October 2, 2021, Imran Shahbaz, a 44-year-old man, was working his shift as a taxi driver in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a job he had held for over a decade. He was a husband and a father to three children who lived in Pakistan, and he was in the process of bringing them to the United States. Friends and colleagues described him as a humble, kind, and hardworking man who supported his family back home. He had been a professional hockey player in Pakistan before moving to the U.S.
to build a better life.
His final shift began with a routine pickup from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. Shortly before 10 p.m., while on the phone with a friend, Shahbaz mentioned he was taking a passenger to North 18th Street. The call then disconnected. Later that evening, his body was discovered in an alley in the 1800 block of West Walnut Street. He had been shot to death. Hours later, his Yellow Cab was found engulfed in flames in a church parking lot about five miles away, near 60th and Silver Spring.
The Milwaukee Police Department launched a homicide investigation. The case initially left the community and fellow taxi drivers on edge, fearful for their own safety. Investigators released surveillance photos of the last passenger Shahbaz picked up, identifying him as the primary suspect. The investigation eventually led authorities to 28-year-old Joshua M. Sanders. He was already in custody in Georgia, awaiting trial for a double homicide. Sanders was charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the death of Imran Shahbaz, accused of shooting him twice in the head during what began as a robbery. Authorities decided the legal proceedings for the murders in Georgia would take place before he was tried for the crimes in Milwaukee.
