Woman carjacks SUV with family inside, takes off with baby in PA, feds say
A Pennsylvania woman is facing prison time after officials said she carjacked a family’s SUV at gunpoint with a baby inside.
Phillis Fugah, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to a July 23 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
McClatchy News reached out to Fugah’s attorney July 24 but did not immediately hear back.
The charges stem from an incident on Aug. 29, 2024.
While a father was sitting in the backseat of a Honda Pilot with his two young children waiting for his wife to return, Fugah and a man “rushed” the vehicle, according to prosecutors.
The man opened the passenger-side door then took off, officials said.
Fugah, however, opened the driver-side door and got behind the wheel, according to officials. She then pointed a gun at the father and demanded money, prosecutors said.
The 5-year-old boy in the backseat jumped out of the car through the open passenger-side door up front. The father then got out and told Fugah his baby was in the car as he tried to open the front door, prosecutors said.
Fugah struggled with the father, trying to stop him from opening the door, before she fired a shot at him, just missing his head, according to officials.
“A piece of the bullet struck the window of an occupied SEPTA bus across the street, passing over the heads of several passengers,” prosecutors said.
Fugah took off in the SUV with the baby still in the backseat, officials said.
The SUV was found not far from the scene with the baby inside, unharmed, officials said.
Fugah is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 4 and faces a mandatory minimum sentencing of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, according to prosecutors.
