Cab Driver Killed Near Prudential Center Was Shot 9 Times, Prosecutors Say

BOSTON (CBS) – A Pawtucket, Rhode Island man is being held without bail charged with the murder and armed carjacking of a Boston cab driver. When shots rang out in the Back Bay late Tuesday morning, prosecutors describe an assassination of 60-year-old Luckinson Oruma.

They say 34-year-old Phillip Foy asked Oruma to take him to Mansfield and when he refused that's when Foy allegedly turned violent. "When the deceased said again 'I won't take you there,' the defendant said, 'You're going to move this cab or I'm going to move you,'" said prosecutor John Verner.

That's when he says Foy got out, opened the cab driver's door and opened fire as many as nine times. "He pulled Mr. Oruma out of he cab, shot him one time, Mr. Oruma fell to the ground," Verner said. "The defendant stood over and fired a few more times shooting Mr. Oruma while he was down."

The shooting happened just before 11 a.m. on Tuesday at Huntington Avenue and West Newton Street, near the Colonnade Hotel. Oruma was pronounced dead at a Boston hospital.

In court a family member yelled "he's a coward" after hearing the gruesome details. Foy was allowed to hide his face in court.

It was eyewitnesses who helped police find Foy about a block from the scene where prosecutors say Foy ditched the cab he stole, dumped his firearm and ammunition, and even his shoes as he tried to hide at a nearby supermarket before being taken into custody. Police say Foy confessed to the crime.

Oruma's children said their father was a hard-working man who enjoyed Boston sports and gardening.

"I wish my dad didn't suffer, hope he didn't suffer," said Princewill Oruma, one of Luckinson's five sons. "Trying to shop for a good gift for my father for Father's Day, but at this point I'll be shopping for funeral homes."

Foy is charged with murder, armed carjacking and unlawful possession of a firearm.