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Rhode Island man convicted of murdering Boston cab driver
“The shooting death of Luckinson Oruma was shattering not just for his family and friends, but for anyone who goes to work each day expecting, as they should, to be in a safe environment."
A Rhode Island man was found guilty on Monday of murdering a Boston cab driver in 2019 outside a Back Bay hotel.
Phillip Foy, 40, of Pawtucket was convicted by a Suffolk County jury of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 60-year-old Luckinson Oruma of Dorchester, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office announced.
Authorities said Oruma was driving his taxi on June 4, 2019, when he parked outside the Colonnade Hotel on Huntington Avenue. Foy got in the cab and asked to be taken to Mansfield. When Oruma refused to take him there, authorities said, Foy got out of the car, opened the driver’s side door, and assaulted the 60-year-old.
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Foy pulled out a gun and shot Oruma, standing over him and firing directly at him repeatedly when the Dorchester man fell to the ground, authorities said. The Pawtucket man then drove the cab onto Ring Road, where he parked, emptied and discarded the gun, took off his shoes, and sat outside a Starbucks.
Police responded to the report of the shooting around 10:58 a.m. and found Oruma. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
When police arrived on Ring Road, authorities said, Foy grabbed a pedestrian and attempted to shield himself before officers took him into custody. He confessed to shooting Oruma at the time, but claimed it was in self-defense.
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“The shooting death of Luckinson Oruma was shattering not just for his family and friends, but for anyone who goes to work each day expecting, as they should, to be in a safe environment,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “This defendant turned Mr. Oruma’s environment into something tragically different, and I’m very grateful that the jury held him accountable for his devastating actions.”
Foy is scheduled to be sentenced May 23. A first-degree murder conviction carries with it a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
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