Owner of the popular El Sadiek and the Sugar Cake Girls band, John Alli was stabbed to death in New York early Monday morning while working as a taxi driver.
Alli, 46, who only migrated to the US two years ago, was stabbed during what authorities believed was a robbery and he died at the St Joseph’s Medical Centre, according to US news reports.
Early Sunday morning, he was found in his cab near 93 Riverdale Avenue, New York, dying from a stab wound. Police say he had just dropped off passengers he had picked up in the Bronx.
According to reports the man and his wife lived in the Bronx along with their three children.
“I don’t know how I’m going to cope with this, I don’t know,” the man’s wife, Shabana Alli was quoted as saying. She said shortly after they migrated two years ago he began working as a livery cab driver.
“He didn’t really like the job that much but he did it so we could survive. We had so many bills to pay but we were a happy family. We love each other so much. He loved his kids,” the wife further said.
“He was a little scared but nothing brings him down. He was always very positive,” the man’s niece, Shameeza Khan, said.
Further reports indicated that Alli’s cab was equipped with a surveillance camera, but police won’t say if the technology has been helpful in their investigation.