A 40-year-old Rhode Island man found guilty for the 2019 shooting death of a cab driver in the Back Bay is due back in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday for a sentencing hearing, prosecutors said.
Phillip Foy of Pawtucket is facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison after a jury on Monday convicted him of first-degree murder, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Luckinson Oruma had driven cab number 192 for nearly 10 years — 10 hours a day, six days a week. The same white cab put the Dorchester man’s five children through college.
The 60-year-old Nigerian immigrant’s fatal encounter with Foy unfolded on a sunny morning on Huntington Avenue on June 4, 2019, the Globe previously reported.
Just before 11 a.m., Oruma idled in front of the Colonnade Hotel. A tall, thin man who had spent time in jail on a cocaine charge, appeared at his cab window demanding a ride to Mansfield, 35 miles outside the city.
When Oruma refused the fare, Foy dragged him from his cab and shot him nine times, continuing to fire even after Oruma fell, prosecutors said.
Foy drove away in the cab, parked on Ring Road, and tossed the murder weapon. He took off his shoes, and sat in front of a Starbucks, according to law enforcement authorities.
When police arrived, Foy grabbed a pedestrian and tried to shield himself. After his arrest, Foy confessed to shooting Oruma but said he did so in self defense, prosecutors said.
“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 District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
