JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — The suspect wanted in the stabbing of a taxi driver in Jefferson County last Tuesday night has been arrested and charged.
Ajla Zekan, 21, of St. Louis was arrested by St. Louis County Police during a traffic stop on Saturday. Zekan is believed to be the passenger in the taxi cab who stabbed the driver more than a dozen times on Tuesday night in Imperial.
Zekan was charged late Saturday by the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
She is being held at the St. Louis County Jail.
She will be moved to the Jefferson County Jail and will be held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
How It Happened
According to police, the driver — identified as Inam "Sunny" Allah by friends — picked up Zekan around 9 p.m, last Tuesday near Highway 21 and Mercy Hospital South.
Zekan asked for a ride to Windermere Drive in Imperial. Police say she stabbed Allah when they pulled up near the intersection of Windermere and Ferris Court.
"He was in great agony and pain," Allah's friend, Saqid Khan, said after visiting Allah in the hospital. "His eyes were burning. He was in extreme discomfort."
The taxi driver got out, and the woman took off in his car. The taxi driver ran to a nearby home for help.
A resident told 5 On Your Side his garage door was open when he spotted the man, who was bleeding.
“It was scary,” said the homeowner, who did not want to give his name. “I just couldn’t believe it. I called 911. I’m so glad he survived.”
Last week, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office released photos showing the woman they believe stabbed the taxi driver. They said the surveillance photos show her inside the Dierberg's store near Mercy South shortly before she hailed the cab.
