Inset: Naziyha Weatherall (Greenville County Sheriff's Office). Background: Law enforcement officers investigate a reported stabbing on East North Street in Greenville County, South Carolina (WYFF/YouTube).
A woman in South Carolina remains behind bars after authorities say she stabbed a Lyft driver she had hailed and then stole his vehicle.
Naziyha Lanay Weatherall, 22, is charged with attempted murder, carjacking resulting in bodily injury, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to Greenville County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
In court this week, prosecutors detailed the events that led to the charges.
A man was driving for Lyft in Greenville County on April 22, when he got a ride request at an apartment complex. The driver traveled to the area of East North Street, a major road in and outside the city of Greenville, and there he waited.
Authorities said Weatherall approached the man's vehicle, stabbed him in the head, and then stole the vehicle.
"The victim was simply just trying to do his job and was stabbed 11 times," the solicitor said, according to local Fox affiliate WHNS. "Not only was he stabbed 11 times, his car was then carjacked by this defendant."
Deputies with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene at about 2:30 p.m. that day. Authorities provided first aid for the rideshare driver, who was brought to a local hospital, and then they investigated what happened. Weatherall was later arrested.
The victim's wife said her husband is still shaken by the incident.
"The alleged conduct was extremely violent," she said, adding that he was "attacked vehemently with a knife, resulting in 11 stab wounds to multiple areas of his body."
"What concerns us most is that happened while my husband was simply working. He was not looking for any confrontation, he was providing a service to a person," the wife continued. "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."
The defense, for their part, said Weatherall had no previous criminal record and was dealing with a "mental health crisis" at the time involving schizophrenia, according to WHNS. She allegedly believed she was being watched and under attack and had called a Lyft so she could get to a nearby police station and report what she believed she was going through.
"Her mother even called the police station to let them know she was on the way to make a report," a defense attorney said. "During that, the crisis got worse. She was undergoing a delusion in which she believed she was being trafficked, and panicked, and that's how we're at where we're at today."
The judge, not for the first time, denied the defendant bond. She must undergo a psychological evaluation next month.