Two men charged in fatal beating of NYC taxi driver

Two men have been charged in the fatal beating of a New York City taxi driver who attempted to collect fare from customers who refused to pay early on Saturday morning.

According to police, the taxi driver, 52-year old Kutin Gyimah, dropped off a car of five passengers, including two 20-year old men and three teenage minors, in Far Rockaway, Queens. When the passengers exited the vehicle, they fled in several directions without paying the cab fare. Gyimah got out of the car and chased after one of the passengers, catching up to them.

Video shows the two involved in an altercation when one of the older male passengers approached Gyimah and punched him several times, resulting in Gyimah falling to the ground. Before he got back up, all five passengers had arrived and began kicking and hitting him as he lay on the ground. He was again knocked down when the second older male passenger punched him in the face twice, rendering Gyimah motionless, at which time all five attackers fled the scene.

Austin Amos and Nickolas Porter, the two 20-year old men involved in the fatal beating, were officially charged on Saturday. Amos is charged with manslaughter and Porter is charged with gang assault and theft assault.

Gyimah was a father of four children, aged 3, 5, 7, and 8 years old. His wife, Abigail Gyimah, said she was “relieved” to hear of the arrests of the two men. “He was my children’s hero,” she told ABC 7. “He was my backbone. He was the one I looked up to. I look up to God, but aside God, he was the only one I looked up to. And now, his life has just been cut short just like that.”

Amos and Porter turned themselves in to the 101st precinct on Wednesday evening following a city-wide police bulletin asking for information about the attack on Gyimah was issued.