Family of slain Durham Uber driver sues rideshare company for wrongful death
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Emmanuel Gbedee Sr. was killed while driving for Uber last January.
- His family sued Uber on Wednesday, alleging the company doesn’t protect drivers.
- The teen accused of murdering Gbedee has been found incapable of standing trial.
The family of a slain Durham Uber driver has sued the company over allegations Uber failed to protect drivers from dangerous riders, attorneys said Wednesday.
Emmanuel Gbedee Sr., 57, was found dead in Johnston County early Jan. 12, 2025, hours after he left his Durham home, The News & Observer previously reported. Tray’vian Tre’vel Brown, 19, of Dunn is charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in his death; he was found incompetent to stand trial in September.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges Uber and Rasier LLC, the company that managed Uber’s relationship with drivers, “failed to adopt available protections” for its drivers.
“We are pursuing this action to hold Uber accountable for systemic failures that exposed Mr. Gbedee, and countless drivers like him, to foreseeable harm,” said Imani N. Maatuka, lead attorney on the case, in a written statement. “Mr. Gbedee deserved to come home to his family, and we intend to ensure his death is not met with silence.”
The complaint cites a 2023 survey of 900 Uber and Lyft drivers, where 67% of survey respondents said they had experienced violence, harassment or abuse while working; 10% had been robbed or carjacked; and 3% had been sexually assaulted. Uber had been aware of safety concerns for drivers since at least 2015, the complaint claims.
The suit specifically points to Uber’s advertising promoting its services for impaired people who shouldn’t drive. Encouraging inebriated riders puts drivers at heightened risk, the lawsuit argues.
“Uber drivers have virtually no protections to prevent or limit the occurrences of assault, robbery, or murder,” the complaint states. “This puts Uber drivers in an untenable position: assume the risk of violent attacks by criminal Uber passengers or discontinue driving for Uber altogether.”
Gbedee’s family is seeking more than $250,000 in damages.
On Wednesday afternoon, an Uber spokesperson told The N&O in an email that the company couldn’t comment on the litigation but said “the safety of drivers is fundamental to Uber.”
“We continuously invest in new technology and features designed to help improve safety, such as in-app audio recording, access to live safety agents, and rider verification measures,” according to the emailed statement. “We know there is always more work to do, and we remain committed to strengthening protections and improving the experience for everyone on the platform.”
What happened to Gbedee?
Gbedee left his Durham home about 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11, 2025, to drive his youngest child to a friend’s 16th birthday party, according to the complaint. As he waited for the party to finish, he accepted an Uber pick-up.
But when Gbedee began the trip, “the Uber rider brandished a gun and demanded that Mr. Gbedee turn over his wallet, possessions, and the car itself,” the complaint states.
Brown is accused of shooting Gbedee “moments later,” according to the complaint.
Gbedee’s wallet, cellphone and other belongings weren’t found in his car, where he was discovered dead in Benson, one mile north of the pickup location, about 1:15 a.m., The N&O previously reported.
Johnston County deputies were called to a sweet potato warehouse on Holly Grove Road about 1 a.m. after the owner saw a “suspicious male” on security cameras, according to search warrants. State troopers were also called to the site after a passerby saw Gbedee’s Nissan Altima parked by the warehouse with its hazard lights on.
A state trooper arrived on the scene and found Gbedee’s glove box and center console “had been rifled through,” according to search warrants. Gbedee had been shot twice at close range. A handgun, magazine and black ski mask were recovered from Brown’s home in a subsequent search.
Law enforcement arrived at the Gbedees’ home about 7:30 a.m. to inform them of Gbedee’s death, according to the complaint.
Gbedee’s wife had grown worried for his safety after he didn’t return texts or calls. Screenshots of text messages in the complaint show a text from Gbedee’s phone to his wife around the time of the killing, which Gbedee’s attorneys allege was sent by Brown.
Gbedee was laid to rest March 1, 2025 — the day he was scheduled to celebrate his 30th anniversary with his wife. Instead, loved ones gathered in Charlotte and Gbedee’s native Liberia to mourn. The complaint includes a letter from N.C. Gov. Josh Stein, who wrote to Gbedee’s widow that it was “devastating that his senseless murder cut short what surely would have been many more years of love and happiness together.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 5:04 PM.
