Teen arrested for murdering Lyft driver in Virginia
01/30/2020 10:51 am PST
via WTVR:
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) -- Bernard E. Smith, 18, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felon in connection to the January 28 shooting of 79-year-old Lyft driver Franklin Farrens.
Sources told WTVR whoever killed Farrens had ties to the Providence Creek area in Chesterfield, and could even live nearby. Smith lives along the 2900 block of Providence Creek Road, the same block in which Farrens was killed.
Sources confirm the Lyft app was used to summons Farrens before his murder. He was shot to death 25 miles from his Chester home.
His car was seen on a nearby home's surveillance video, rolling down Providence Creek Road and hitting parked cars before coming to a stop.
"The location of the wound tells me the suspect was behind him, which tells me the driver was behind the wheel and either drove or rolled away after he was shot,” CBS 6 crime expert Steve Neal, a retired Chesterfield captain, said.
Smith was held without bond.
MORE: Teen arrested for murdering Lyft driver in Chesterfield - WTVR