Muslim community mourns death of taxi driver; 2 suspects arrested
UPDATE: James Riley and Alysianna Martin were sentenced on March 1, 2024 for the murder of 55-year-old taxi driver Abdukadir Filanwaa.
UPDATE: 30-year-old James Riley and 29-year-old Alysianna Martin were arrested Tuesday for their involvement in the murder of 55-year-old taxi driver Abdukadir Filanwaa, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced Wednesday.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It was shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday when police responded to a call of a suspicious cab that had been parked at the 400 block of east 11th street with the door wide open for a long period of time.
When police arrived they found a 55-year-old Muslim man, Abdukadir Filanwaa, inside with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ahmed Alamine is the Imam and director of the Indianapolis Muslim Community Association. He says this death has been difficult for the Muslim community as a whole.
“Just having someone who is going to work and never coming back home just because somebody decide to take their life, it’s very shocking and never normal,” Alamine said.
Filanwaa came to America from Somalia. Alamine says, like many Muslim immigrants Filanwaa was working as a taxi driver to provide for his family back in Somalia.
“Many Muslim community members, especially head of household, that is what they do. They drive Uber and taxis to provide for their families,” Alamine said.
Filanwaa fled from Somalia looking for a better life and an opportunity someday for his family.
“He was from Somalia, a war-torn country where he fled for his safety just to be killed here in Indianapolis while doing his job,” Alamine said.
Alamine says the Indianapolis Muslim community association will honor Filanwaa’s life Tuesday. He says it’s especially important to do so because Filanwaa has no family here in the states.
“He has only one daughter who lives in the UK. We tried to get her to come over, unfortunately, she will miss the funeral, but we wanted to give her the opportunity to see the grave of her father. This makes it even harder on the rest of his family in Somalia,” Alamine said.
