Man Who Murdered Livery Cab Driver In 2015 Sentenced To 25 Years To Life

BED STUY – In 2015, a livery cab driver was shot and killed inside his car by a man who attempted to rob him. Today, the defendant was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

In the early morning of June 29, 2015, 35-year-old Fawaz Naji, a man from Brownsville, was driving his livery cab. At about 12:20 a.m., 27-year-old Unique Gray and 28-year-old Tyrell Gardenhire flagged down Naji’s cab and ordered Naji to pull over on Decatur Street near Malcolm X Boulevard, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said.

They both got inside the car where they then attempted to rob Naji. Gray, in the backseat, fired a revolver and shot the victim five times in the face, arm, back, and hand. He then fled the state. Naji was taken to Kings County Hospital and was pronounced dead.

On August 29, 2015, Gray was apprehended in North Carolina was and extradited back to Brooklyn. On March 13, 2019, Gardenhire pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted robbery. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision.

Following a jury trial on May 9, 2019, Gray was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Today, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Naji, who DNAinfo reported, was a father from Yemen.

“A devoted father who worked multiple jobs to provide for his wife and children was senselessly shot and killed in the prime of his life,” Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said. “Fawaz Naji had so much to live for when this defendant inexplicably chose to take it all away from him. With today’s sentencing, this defendant has now been brought to justice.”