FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (PIX11) – A New Jersey taxi driver was shot to death in a suspected robbery Thursday night, authorities said.
Kofi Addo, a 57-year-old taxi driver from North Brunswick, was shot and killed near Rose Street and Sydney Place in Franklin Township just before 10 p.m., according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
After driving to the area of Rose Street to pick up a fare, Addo was confronted by an unknown number of people and fatally shot inside his taxi, authorities said.
“I heard [multiple] shots,” said witness Rocco Sansone. “I don’t remember if it was three, but a couple shots, and then the taxi driver lost consciousness.”
Addo’s taxi then crashed into Sansone’s car parked in his driveway. Sansone said first responders tried to save Addo’s life, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Whoever pulled the trigger fled the scene.
No arrests have been made. Authorities asked the public for help in identifying suspects.
“Please, whoever did this, how could you have done this to that wonderful man?” pleaded Addo’s surviving girlfriend, Kecia Banks. “Why? My question is why?”
A beloved father and member of the community, Addo was a longtime school bus and taxi driver. Banks said her last words to him were about a special meal they planned on sharing together the next day.
“I said, ‘You have a good night.’ And he said, ‘I’ll see you later.’ And that was it,” said Banks. “Then we get the call. A friend came by and told us he got shot. We go up to the hospital, and he’s dead.”
As Banks and her family grieve, she is calling on lawmakers to create stricter laws on guns and to bring justice for Addo.
“They must do something,” Banks said. “Please, stop this. Find something for these children or whoever, something to do. If you needed money, you could have just took the money. You didn’t have to take his life.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-5533 or via the STOPit app. Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).
