BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PROSECUTORS SAY A SOUTH CAROLINA WOMAN STABBED HER LYFT DRIVER 11 TIMES BEFORE TAKING HIS VEHICLE… AND A JUDGE HAS ORDERED HER HELD WITHOUT BOND PENDING A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION.
Naziyha Weatherall faces multiple felony charges in South Carolina after allegedly attacking her rideshare driver.
Court records show that the charges stem from an April 22 incident.
The case is based in Greenville County.
Weatherall is accused of stabbing her Lyft driver 11 times before taking his vehicle.
She faces a charge of attempted murder.
She faces a charge of carjacking.
She also faces a charge of possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
On Friday, Weatherall was denied bond during a court hearing.
FOX Carolina reported that prosecutors called the allegations a “frightening factual scenario” during Friday’s bond hearing.
Prosecutors argued Weatherall posed an extreme danger to the community.
A solicitor detailed the state’s case during the hearing.
“The victim was simply just trying to do his job and was stabbed 11 times,” a solicitor said, according to FOX Carolina.
The solicitor added, “Not only was he stabbed 11 times, his car was then carjacked by this defendant.”
The driver was identified as Sergii Savchenko.
Savchenko was working for Lyft at the time of the alleged attack.
He was hospitalized after suffering the stab wounds.
Savchenko is recovering in the hospital while Weatherall faces attempted murder charges.
He did not attend Friday’s hearing.
The driver’s wife appeared in court on his behalf.
She said the trauma of the alleged attack prevented him from attending.
She addressed the court regarding the violence inflicted on her husband while he worked.
“What concerns us most is that happened while my husband was simply working,” she said.
She told the court that her husband had done nothing to cause the attack.
“He was not looking for any confrontation, he was providing a service to a person. If this level of violence could happen to someone who was simply doing his job, we are concerned about potential risks to other people in our community.”
Lyft addressed the incident following the hearing.
Lyft told Fox News Digital it permanently removed the rider accounts involved from its platform and has continued assisting law enforcement.
“Violence like this has no place in the Lyft community or in our society,” a Lyft spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added, “The driver’s well-being has been our priority, and we have reached out to them and their family to offer support.”
But Weatherall’s lawyer urged the court to view the allegations through the lens of her mental state.
Her attorney argued she was experiencing a severe mental health crisis during the alleged attack.
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The defense said she had never previously been charged with a crime.
Her attorney stated she was in the throes of a psychiatric emergency.
The defense said paranoia had convinced Weatherall that others were monitoring her.
She also believed others were trying to harm her.
Those fears prompted her to summon a ride.
She ordered the ride to report her fears to police.
Her family had also attempted to alert law enforcement.
“Her mother even called the police station to let them know she was on the way to make a report,” the attorney said.
The attorney added, “During that, the crisis got worse.”
The defense attorney said Weatherall believed she was being trafficked.
She panicked during the ride.
The attorney said Weatherall had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and other mental health conditions.
Weatherall’s mother also spoke at the bond hearing.
Weatherall’s mother apologized to the driver’s family while asking the court to consider her daughter’s mental state.
She told the court that her daughter was not a criminal.
“She’s not a criminal. She would never, ever, ever hurt anybody like that,” her mother said.
Her mother told the judge that she understood what the driver’s family was experiencing.
“And I understand the family’s side, I truly do, because we are all suffering. We all are.”
And the defense argued that Weatherall’s condition had changed while in custody.
The defense said Weatherall is now medicated, stable and competent.
Her attorney asked the court to release her from jail.
The defense asked the court to release her so relatives and a social worker could arrange placement at a treatment facility.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Weatherall’s attorney for comment.
Court records show earlier judicial orders regarding Weatherall’s mental health.
A judge ordered competency and observation evaluations in June, court records show.
Then came the court’s decision on Friday.
On Friday, the judge denied Weatherall’s bond request and ordered that she remain jailed pending a psychological evaluation scheduled for September.
She was denied bond.
She will remain jailed.
She will remain in custody.
She will await her psychological evaluation scheduled for September.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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