Inset: Amare Geda (GoFundMe). Background: Neiana Allen-Bailey in court for her sentencing (KOMO/YouTube).
A 20-year-old Washington state woman who shot an Uber driver and father of two dead when she was a teenager — then took his Toyota Prius to get her hair done, visit family and smoke pot — is headed to prison for two decades.
Neiana Allen-Bailey was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing 52-year-old Amare Geda in 2023 while he was sitting in his Prius and working an overnight Uber shift in downtown Seattle, according to online court records. Geda”s 10-year-old son wrote a song for him that was played during Allen-Bailey’s sentencing hearing.
“I wish I could have stopped my dad from going to work that night,” the song’s lyrics said, according to local ABC affiliate KOMO. “Wherever you are, Dad, I hope you are safe.”
Allen-Bailey walked up to Geda’s Prius while he was stopped near First Avenue South and South Walker Street around 3:30 a.m. and opened fire on him, according to police. She pulled Geda’s body out of the car and dumped him in the street after gunning the father down.
“I know my apologies and remorse won’t make it better,” Allen-Bailey said at her Friday sentencing hearing, according to KOMO. “It’s unthinkable, unbearable, unbelievable has happened. Life will never be the same. The pain will never go away, I understand this … I have constant dreams of what I can remember from that night. I’m sorry for my part in this traumatizing situation.”
Police said that Allen-Bailey admitted to driving around the Seattle area for two days — visiting her family in Skyway, smoking marijuana in Rainier Beach, getting her hair done in Kent, and gassing the car up for $20 at a car wash in Renton — before her arrest in August 2023. She was caught during a police stakeout as she allegedly walked to Geda’s Prius in a “no-parking zone” during a street fair in Denny Park.
“Today, there is only one life sentence and that is for Mr. Geda,” prosecutor Thomas O’Ban told the court during Friday’s sentencing. The prosecutor’s request for a longer prison term was denied.
At a vigil following his death, Geda was remembered as a hardworking family man, dedicated father, and churchgoer from Ethiopia.
“We are left not only with the deep sorrow of losing Amare, but we live with the trauma of losing him to such a violent and vicious murder,” said Daniel Negash Ajema, a representative for the Geda family, according to local NBC affiliate KING. “The trauma, pain, anger and powerlessness we feel today will never dissipate.”
The Seattle Rideshare Drivers Association said in a Facebook post that Geda had been working two jobs for the past 14 years to support his family.
“At night, he drove, while during the day, he worked at the airport,” the association said.
A fellow rideshare driver who spoke at Allen-Bailey’s sentencing described how Geda was “the type of individual who cared about you and showed love” as a mentor.
“He was an amazing person — an angel on earth,” the woman said, according to KOMO. “And now we all have him as an angel.”
Jason Kandel contributed to this report.
