St. Louis, MO. -- An investigation is ongoing after a cab driver was shot and killed in north St. Louis last week.
Officers responded to the 2500 block of E. Dodier around 9:35 p.m. where a man was found shot and bleeding heavily from his head in the middle of the street.
Police identified him as 66-year-old Boris Iouioukine. His family said he was an independent contractor for Laclede Cab who was just doing his job.
His family remembers a dedicated father and grandfather.
"When he made connections, he treated people like family and they took him in as family,” his daughter, Anna Iouioukina, said.
Iouioukine was originally from Krasnodar, Russia.
"My dad was a very educated man,” his daughter explained. “He had a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Russia in linguistics,” Iouioukina said.
Iouioukine spoke at least six languages. For many years, he traveled around the world as a translator and interpreter. In 1989, he moved to St. Louis. His two children, Anna and Slava, followed in 1991.
“He wanted us to have a better life here,” said Slava Iouioukine.
For the last 24 years, Iouioukine worked as an independent contractor with Laclede Cab Company. He treated his customers just as he would his family.
“He always would mail back a wallet if a wallet was lost,” Iouioukina explained. “I’d be like, ‘oh, what are you doing?’ And he would say, ‘I have to mail this wallet back.’ He would get the address from the driver’s license."
Iouioukine’s job was not without its challenges, though.
"It stressed him out when Uber came into town,” said Anna. “He started taking fare that he normally wouldn’t take."
On Monday night, Iouioukine was found unconscious in the middle of East Dodier street in North St. Louis. Police said he had a puncture wound to his head.
"I always feared something would happen to my dad,” said Anna.
The next day, on Tuesday, Iouioukine’s van was found in the driveway of an abandoned home in the Castle Point Neighborhood. What happened from the time Iouioukine picked up his last rider in North St. Louis County to the time he was found unconscious in the St. Louis City is not known.
"I just hope that he wasn’t scared and that it happened quickly,” Anna said. She shared with Five on Your Side the last day and the last moments she had with her dad.
"I hugged him, I kissed him, I did that, I tried to do that every time I would see him,” she said.
A friend of the family set up a GoFundMe account to help the family with funeral and cremation expenses. You can find that fundraiser here.
