The couple started arguing shortly after they got inside the Uber early Sunday morning.
The driver would later tell police that Jennifer Espitia, 29, was sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle and her husband, Cameron John Espitia, 31, had taken a seat behind the driver, according to court documents cited by the Seattle Times.
At some point - while the two passengers bickered and the husband repeatedly cursed at his wife - the driver heard a boom. The sound was so loud, the driver told police, that he assumed his tire had exploded. However, when he saw Jennifer Espitia's body slumped forward, lying motionless in her seat, it became clear that a gunshot had been fired inside the car and his life was in danger, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
Attempting to keep the situation calm, the driver asked Espitia where he wanted to go, the paper reported. Espitia told the driver to "just drive" before eventually instructing the driver to drop him off northwest of downtown Seattle, the Times reported. Once Espitia got out of the Uber, the driver called police. Espitia was arrested around 2 a.m., six blocks away from where he exited the vehicle. Police say they found him with a semiautomatic pistol in an ankle holster.
"When asked how he was, Cameron said he was not having a good night with his wife," the Times reported, citing court documents.
Jennifer Espitia, 29, was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center, according to police.
Espitia told police he was drunk when the incident happened and remembered almost nothing between the time he and his wife were searching for a ride to the moment he woke up lying in some bushes, according to NBC affiliate KING-TV, which cited court documents. Espitia did acknowledge remembering riding inside a white SUV that resembled the Uber in which the shooting took place, the station reported.
During a Monday court appearance, a judge set Espitia's bail at $3 million, according to the Times. He is being held on probable cause of one count of second-degree murder and is expected to appear in court again on July 6.
Espitia worked for the U.S. Coast Guard, according to court records cited by the Times.
At the hearing, Coast Guardsman Elliot Felix told the presiding judge that he didn't think Espitia - whom he had known for five years - was capable of killing his wife. "I would not in a million years think he would do something like this," Felix said, according to the Times.
Jennifer Espitia, a Washington state native, graduated from Mercer Island High School in the Seattle suburb before attending Saint Mary's College in California, where she was a member of the school's rowing team, according to a college-athletics biography.
Her rowing bio noted that she earned a community service award for her work as a peer educator at Planned Parenthood, as a day care attendee and for helping to build homes in Mexico.
For the Uber driver, the night was a harrowing experience, but he came away unharmed.
"We've been in contact with the driver and are so grateful he is OK," a company spokeswoman told The Washington Post.
Uber prohibits riders from carrying firearms in their vehicles while using their app. But Uber drivers have been the victims of violence on numerous occasions.
On May 30, an Uber driver working in a Chicago suburb died after he was allegedly attacked by a teenage passenger carrying a machete and a knife, The Washington Post's Samantha Schmidt reported.
Police accuse 16-year-old Eliza Wasni of stabbing 24-year-old Grant Nelson from the back seat of his silver Hyundai Sonata. Nelson managed to pull the car into a nearby condominium building driveway before running to the lobby entrance, where he banged on the door and screamed.
"Help me," Nelson shouted. "Help me, I'm going to die."
He was able to describe his attacker to police but later died in a hospital.
Police say Wasni attempted to steal Nelson's car but was eventually caught on foot "in a bra and leggings; a Cubs shirt that she is seen wearing in Walmart security footage was found nearby with bloodstains, officials said," according to the Chicago Tribune.
Wasni been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and is being held in a juvenile facility, the Tribune reported.
Uber says it does provide training to drivers on how to deal with "difficult" passengers.
The Washington Post
Wed Jul 05 2017
Lebih 500,000 pengembara Singapura ke Malaysia sehari
Lebih 500,000 pengembara dilepaskan menerusi Pusat Pemeriksaan Woodlands dan Tuas di Singapura pada menjelang cuti panjang hujung minggu Good Friday.
[TERKINI] Lelaki Israel ditahan di KL bersama enam pucuk pistol
Ini laporan yang baharu kami terima.
Seorang lelaki warga Israel ditahan Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) bersama enam pucuk pistol di sebuah hotel di Jalan Ampang, pada Rabu lalu.
Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain berkata, suspek yang berusia 36 tahun itu masuk ke negara ini menggunakan palsu Perancis.
Seorang lelaki warga Israel ditahan Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) bersama enam pucuk pistol di sebuah hotel di Jalan Ampang, pada Rabu lalu.
Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain berkata, suspek yang berusia 36 tahun itu masuk ke negara ini menggunakan palsu Perancis.
Kumpulan Sunway kongsi nikmat ramadan melalui jelajah Sinar Ramadan 2024
Bersempena ulang tahunnya yang ke-50, Kumpulan Sunway menjalankan siri jelajah ke lima negeri bagi berkongsi nikmat sebenar ramadan kepada lebih 4,000 golongan kurang berkemampuan.
Ringgit ditutup tinggi berikutan permintaan yang bertambah baik
Pada 6 petang, ringgit meningkat kepada 4.7215/7280 berbanding dolar AS daripada 4.7320/7370 pada semalam.
Singapura rampas 1.5 tan produk segar dan makanan proses dari Malaysia
Kira-kira 1.5 tan produk segar dan makanan diproses yang diimport secara haram dari Malaysia dirampas Agensi Makanan Singapura (SFA) selepas satu operasi bersama Pihak Berkuasa Imigresen dan Pusat Pemeriksaan (ICA) awal minggu ini.
Kerajaan Persekutuan ambil alih projek LRT Pulau Pinang dengan syarat
Projek pembangunan LRT Laluan Mutiara Pulau Pinang akan diambil alih oleh Kerajaan Persekutuan tetapi dengan meletakkan syarat kepada Kerajaan Pulau Pinang.
Kerajaan juga akan mempertimbangkan kaedah pembiayaan projek yang sesuai sama ada melalui Peruntukan Pembangunan ataupun kaedah lain yang sesuai.
Kerajaan juga akan mempertimbangkan kaedah pembiayaan projek yang sesuai sama ada melalui Peruntukan Pembangunan ataupun kaedah lain yang sesuai.
Pembangunan LRT tidak ancam George Town
Pembangunan projek Transit Aliran Ringan (LRT) Laluan Mutiara, Pulau Pinang tidak akan mengancam kedudukan Georgetown sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia Pertubuhan Saintifik, Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (UNESCO).
Menteri Pengangkutan, Anthony Loke, berkata semua pertimbangan awal sudah diambil kira termasuk kelulusan yang diperoleh daripada pelaksanaan Penilaian Kesan Alam Sekitar (EIA) dan Penilaian Kesan Sosial (SIA).
Menteri Pengangkutan, Anthony Loke, berkata semua pertimbangan awal sudah diambil kira termasuk kelulusan yang diperoleh daripada pelaksanaan Penilaian Kesan Alam Sekitar (EIA) dan Penilaian Kesan Sosial (SIA).
Tiada layanan istimewa kepada Najib - Penjara
Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Penjara, Datuk Nordin Muhammad menegaskan tiada sebarang layanan istimewa diberikan kepada mana-mana individu termasuk Bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak di penjara.
Lelaki Israel ditahan di KL bersama enam pucuk pistol
Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain berkata, suspek yang berusia 36 tahun itu masuk ke negara ini menggunakan pasport palsu Perancis.
Beli kondo mewah: Isa Samad, Mohd Emir diperintah bayar RM3.31 juta kepada FGV
Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini memerintahkan bekas Pengerusi FGV Holdings Berhad Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad dan bekas Presiden Kumpulan dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Datuk Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah membayar lebih RM3.31 juta kepada syarikat itu berhubung pembelian dua unit kondominium mewah di ibu negara.