TRAGIC TRAGEDY : “His face just exploded with blood”: Nigerian taxi driver killed in the US as passenger stabs him in the eye (PICTURED)

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RICHARD YORK

Livery cab driver Orji Ama Uro was fatally stabbed in the eye with an umbrella after dropping off a man and woman in Brooklyn. The point of the umbrella pierced his brain.

A gypsy cab driver killed by a passenger who savagely stabbed him in the eye with an umbrella in Brooklyn was a dedicated father of five who worked to help his family find a better life, a relative said Friday.

Orji-Ama Uro, 54, had just let a man and a woman out of the livery cab on Thomas S. Boyland St. in Brownsville when the pair began to argue with the driver about 5 p.m. Thursday, police sources said.

ELLIS WASHINGTON

The injured driver lost control of his vehicle, drove onto the sidewalk, and crashed into two parked vehicles.

The man, believed to be in his 20s, then jabbed the umbrella through Uro’s right eye — piercing his brain — before the cabbie hit the gas and crashed into a couple of parked cars outside a Lott Ave. home, sources said.
“The scene was gruesome,” said Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. “His face was just exploded with blood.”

HANDOUT

Livery cab driver Orji Ama Uro, 54.

As the suspect sprinted away from the scene, the woman — who was carrying a white bag — calmly walked away. The murder weapon was not found.

KATHY KMONICEK/KATHY KMONICEK

Fernando Mateo, center, head of New York City taxi driver’s union with Jose Hernandez, Secretary General for New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, left, and Tony Herbert, Community Advocate holds a press conference concerning the stabbing of taxi cab driver Orji Ama Uro on Friday, June 14, 2013 in Brooklyn.

Investigators were still trying Friday to determine the motive behind the brutal attack.
Detectives initially suspected Uro had been robbed, but he still had a wad of cash in his pocket and a cell phone, sources said. His wallet was found in the glove compartment.

ELLIS WASHINGTON

At approximately 5:30 P.M there was an altercation between a livery cab driver and his two passengers. The cab had New Jersey livery plates.

Mateo said Uro’s car — which had New Jersey license plates — had a sticker from a nearby taxi company, but he was no longer officially working for them.

KATHY KMONICEK/KATHY KMONICEK

Gypsy taxi driver Orji Ama Uro wanted to find a safer job, says his sister-in-law Chinedum Agwu.

It was not clear if Uro was working illegally to dodge taxes and insurance payments, or if he had been stripped of his driving privileges.
But Mateo said that didn’t matter.

ELLIS WASHINGTON

The driver managed to get out of the car and collapse. EMS was summoned, and he was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced DOA.

“You know, everyone is trying to hustle for a living, but no one deserves to lose their life,” he said.
Uro emigrated from Nigeria with his five children about 10 years ago, said his sister-in-law, Chinedum Agwu.
“He came for a better life,” said Agwu, 30.
She said Uro worked long hours as a cabbie so he could support his family, but he was always nervous about the dangers that came with the job.
“He wanted to stop doing that and find something else, because it’s a dangerous job,” Agwu said. “He worried about being killed a lot. And we worried, too.”
Mateo’s group and community organizers are offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the suspects’ arrest.
“This is an outrage for our community,” said activist Tony Herbert. “We are sick and tired of these senseless murders in our community.”