Prosecutors said she shot Amare Geda in Seattle’s SODO area, stole his Prius and used it for errands before police arrested her.
SEATTLE, WA — A King County judge sentenced a 20-year-old woman to 20 years in prison Friday for killing a Seattle rideshare driver in 2023, then stealing his car and using it to visit family and go to a hair appointment before her arrest.
Ne’lani Allen-Bailey, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm in the death of Amare Geda, 52, an Uber and Lyft driver. The sentence closed a closely watched King County case that moved from an initial first-degree murder charge to a plea deal. In court, prosecutors described a sudden and violent attack on a man working an overnight shift, while Geda’s family told the judge that his death shattered a household and left two children without their father.
The killing happened on Aug. 8, 2023, shortly after 3:20 a.m. in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood near First Avenue South and South Walker Street. Police said Geda had stopped his light blue 2014 Toyota Prius along the curb when Allen-Bailey approached. Detectives later said she was not a rideshare customer. According to police and court records, surveillance video and witness accounts showed Allen-Bailey go up to the car, interact with Geda and struggle with him for only seconds before he was shot. Seattle Fire Department crews tried lifesaving measures, but Geda died at the scene from a single gunshot wound that authorities said passed through a major artery and his lung. Detectives said Allen-Bailey drove away in his Prius, heading south on First Avenue and leaving Geda in the street without calling for help.
Investigators said Allen-Bailey kept Geda’s car for about two days after the shooting. Court records described a string of stops after the killing: she admitted using the Prius to visit family members, smoke marijuana, discard some of Geda’s belongings and go to a hair appointment in Kent. Prosecutors said his cell phone and other items were thrown away. Police found the Prius near Denny Park in South Lake Union and arrested Allen-Bailey on Aug. 10, 2023, when she returned to the vehicle. A handgun believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered from under the driver’s seat, according to court records. During a police interview, Allen-Bailey said she shot Geda after a physical encounter and said she feared for her safety, but prosecutors argued that her account did not match the video evidence, which they said showed a very brief confrontation.
Geda’s death drew attention across Seattle because he was attacked while working a late-night rideshare shift and because prosecutors said the violence appeared random. Seattle police said early in the case that evidence collected by homicide detectives indicated the suspect was not a passenger. Geda was found wearing a Lyft jacket, and local reports said he had been expected home about 30 minutes later. Family members and friends later remembered him as a hardworking husband and father who supported his family through long hours behind the wheel. At a vigil and again in court, relatives said the loss reached far beyond one household. His sister-in-law, Sara Martin-Washo, said he was “not just a name in a courtroom” but “a son, a brother, a husband and a father and a pillar in our community.”
The case also included questions about Allen-Bailey’s background and conduct before the killing. Prosecutors originally charged her with first-degree murder, alleging she killed Geda while committing or attempting to commit a robbery. By March 2026, however, she entered a guilty plea to an amended charge of second-degree murder with a firearm. Court records cited in local coverage also said Allen-Bailey had admitted involvement in a separate armed confrontation with a Washington State Department of Transportation worker weeks before Geda’s death. In that case, prosecutors said she and others confronted a worker who had tried to document graffiti in the Mount Baker Bicycle Tunnel. Defense lawyers, meanwhile, urged the court to focus on Allen-Bailey’s age, trauma, mental health history and substance abuse, saying those issues shaped the path that led to the shooting.
At Friday’s sentencing, prosecutors asked for more than 23 years in prison, including the mandatory firearm enhancement. The defense asked for the low end of the range. Judge Haydee Vargas imposed 180 months on the murder conviction plus a 60-month firearm enhancement, for a total of 240 months, or 20 years. The sentence also includes three years of community custody after Allen-Bailey’s release, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and restitution to Geda’s family. Before announcing the punishment, Vargas acknowledged the competing realities in the courtroom. “How do I make due justice for the life lost? How do I do justice for a very traumatized young woman?” the judge said. Vargas said Geda had been “simply sitting in his car” and called him a man who worked hard to support his family.
The most emotional testimony came from Geda’s relatives, who described the long damage left by his death. A loved one read a statement from Geda’s wife that said, “Nothing prepares you for the shock, the confusion and the pain of being told that the person you love is suddenly gone forever.” She said their son still wonders whether his father may come back, and said their daughter once said she wanted to become an Uber driver so someone might harm her and she could see her father again. Allen-Bailey also addressed the court and apologized. “I’m sorry for my part in this traumatizing situation,” she said. Supporters on her side asked the judge to see her as more than the crime, describing a young woman with a “gentle spirit” who had struggled for years. In the end, the judge said the sentence had to recognize both the permanent loss to Geda’s family and the public’s need for safety.
Allen-Bailey now begins serving the prison term ordered March 27, while Geda’s family moves into the restitution phase and post-sentencing proceedings. With the plea and sentence in place, the criminal case is largely resolved, though financial orders and supervision conditions will continue after her release.
Author note: Last updated March 28, 2026.