In a horror car crash, two teen girls are being charged with murder after attempting to carjack an Uber Eats driver in Washington, D.C., causing a wreck after a struggle inside the vehicle. The story is a disturbing reflection of the deterioration of our moral compass and the lack of parental guidance in society.
For Mohammad Anwar, a 66-year-old immigrant from Pakistan, his shift with Uber Eats likely started like any other—but all that changed when two teen girls, ages 13 and 15, targeted Anwar and attempted to steal his vehicle using a taser as a threat.
According to reports, the girls had tased Anwar before entering his vehicle and attempted to steal it. Anwar ended up leaning outside the driver-side window of the car, yelling, “This is my car.” Bystanders were also looking on, with one yelling at the girls to “Stop it.”
As he was leaning out the car through the window, one of the girls floored the vehicle and it took off, crashing moments later.
Anwar, who came to America in 2014 for a better life, died from his injuries.
The girls are currently facing felony charges of murder and armed carjacking and have not been identified, as they’ve initially appeared in juvenile court. Due to the severity of the charges and the situation, it’s possible that the prosecutor will ask that the girls are charged as adults.
In a statement, Anwar’s family said, “The family is devastated by this senseless crime. Mohammad Anwar was a father, a grandfather, a husband, a brother and uncle beloved by many here in the U.S. and in Pakistan. … The loss for his family is immeasurable.”
The family is currently raising money for a traditional Islamic funeral.
Sadly, this is a growing trend in the nation’s capital, which saw a 350% surge in carjackings over the last year.
In addition to the two teen girls, two teenage boys were also arrested for back-to-back carjackings two days after Anwar’s death. The boys were armed with a handgun and “demanded the victim exit the vehicle,” according to an official statement from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Two other teen boys, ages 13 and 14, were also arrested in that same timeframe. The police report that the boys threatened the victims with a knife and physical violence.
This story is shocking and horrible. How could two teenage girls, who should be more concerned about the latest makeup and fashion trends while crushing on the latest teen heartthrob, become armed carjackers and killers?
Chuck Colson is the founder of the Colson Center and Prison Fellowship, and he shared a bit in one blog post in 1994 about his thoughts on the moral decay of America’s youth.
Entitled “A Mirror of Our Morals,” Colson wrote, “What we’re witnessing is the rise of crime without conscience: kids who have no sense of right and wrong. In psychiatry, this is called psychopathic behavior. Today it’s called commonplace behavior. Even ‘nice’ kids show signs of having lost their moral compass. A Josephson Institute study found that about a third of all high-school-aged teens have stolen from a store. Two-thirds have cheated on exams. And the younger the age, the more cynical the attitude toward moral questions.
“The fact is that crime is merely an extreme expression of a moral relativism pervading all levels of society. As Myron Magnet argues in The Dream and the Nightmare, dangerous crime has grown from dangerous ideas. Beginning with intellectuals and artists, Western elites denied the existence of a universal, transcendent moral standard. Morality was defined as subjective, an idea that hit the streets in the phrase ‘do your own thing.’ And criminals did. Ideas and values. These are what determine whether people commit crimes or not.
“The most powerful curb on crime is not external force. It’s the internal guidance of conscience informed by transcendent moral precepts. … (We should) direct our attention to the deeper need: devising policies that strengthen families, schools, and neighborhood programs, where real moral education takes place. Unless we find ways to cultivate conscience, we will never build enough prisons or hire enough police.”
Colson knows a bit about this moral decay. As a special counsel member to President Richard Nixon, Colson was involved in the Watergate Scandal and spent time in prison for his role before converting to evangelical Christianity and founding two ministries.
The teenage girls and boys that engaged in these horrific and violent crimes must be held accountable for their actions, but what’s the best way to prevent such tragic situations in the future? Are changes in governmental policy the answer? Or is focusing on strengthening the family and establishing a strong moral foundation in youth throughout the country what will help?
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