Charlotte rallies around slain Uber driver to help family with expenses

A pair of fundraising efforts have been started to help cover expenses for the family of the Charlotte immigrant whose third job driving for Uber apparently led to his death last weekend.

One on FreeFunder.com seeks to raise $30,000 to help the wife and children of Marlo Johnis Medina-Chevez. The second is on GoFundMe account and it hopes to raise $10,000 to cover funeral expenses.

Both accounts were set up by people claiming to be friends of the Medina-Chevez family, and not the family itself.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police found Medina-Chevez’s body Thursday in Rock Hill. Charlotte TV station WBTV reported Friday his hands and legs were bound with duct tape.

Investigators say 44-year-old Medina-Chevez left home Saturday night to pick up a passenger, and never returned. Two men have been arrested in the case and face an array of charges, including murder, first-degree kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

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Medina-Chevez had just learned the day before his disappearance that he was going to be a grandfather, say family friends.

“He was the breadwinner of the family,” says a note posted on the GoFundMe account. “He worked three jobs in effort to support his family and anything donated will help...with funeral cost as well as just help his family.”

The FreeFunder.com campaign had raised $13,600 from nearly 329 donors as of Friday morning. It was set up by Karenina Miller of Charlotte, who said she was a family friend.

“I have seen and experienced first hand their generosity and kindness. They’re a wonderful, loving family, always willing to help others and actively doing so,” Miller wrote on the campaign page. “Unfortunately, now they’re the ones in need of our help...We saw fit to start a campaign to raise money for the expenses...they might find difficult to cover, rent, utilities, food, gas.”

Donors to the campaigns posted condolences and expressed shock and sadness over his death.

“Such a senseless act of violence,” said donor Rebecah Tromm. “I lived in Charlotte and then in Concord for a total of 10 years. This kind of thing used to never happen, but we know we are living in the last days.”

“I too am a fellow UBER driver from Charlotte and this circumstance has affected me,” posted Paul Beaudry. “It's a concern. My love and well wishes for everyone...May God keep the rest of us safe during these trying times.”

Medina-Chevez was a native of Honduras and was an example of the city’s growing immigrant population, many of whom struggle to make ends meet with multiple low-paying jobs.

In an interview with the Spanish-language newspaper Hola Noticias, Elsa Urbina said her husband began working for Uber in December to raise money for a family vacation.

This story was originally published May 26, 2017 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Charlotte rallies around slain Uber driver to help family with expenses."