![Swift backlash hits CNN after outlet says murdered Uber Eats driver died in 'accident'](https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=25886313&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C14)
Image source: Twitter screenshots
'HEY! ANYBODY HOME? THIS IS NOT AN "ACCIDENT"'
CNN ignited a firestorm of backlash over the weekend after characterizing what police called "felony murder" as a mere accident.
Two teenager girls — ages 13 and 15 — were charged with felony murder after allegedly carjacking Mohammad Anwar in Washington, D.C., last Tuesday.
Police say the teenagers attacked Anwar with a stun gun during the carjacking. The car later crashed, and Anwar died from injuries after being thrown from the vehicle. Anwar was a Pakistani immigrant who moved to America in 2014 to build a better life for his family.
The enhanced murder charges against the teenagers stem from a legal doctrine that "allows a killing that occurs in the course of a dangerous felony, even an accidental death, to be charged against the felon as first-degree murder," according to Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary.
Video of the shocking incident later circulated on social media, showing the alleged carjacking in progress and the car speed away with Anwar hanging outside. The car can be heard crashing as the videographer races toward the scene. Nearby National Guardsmen pull the teenage girls from the wrecked car, which rested on its side, as Anwar's mangled body twitched on the nearby ground. The video showed witnesses failed to provide Anwar with aid.
One of the teenage girls can be heard saying, "Please, my phone is in there. My phone is in there."
The news outlet posted on Twitter Saturday that Anwar died because of "an accident in which he was fatally injured
"Police said the girls, 13 and 15, assaulted an Uber Eats driver with a Taser while carjacking him, which led to an accident in which he was fatally injured," CNN tweeted, along with a link its story on the crime.
CNN was universally condemned for its framing of what police say was "felony murder." Many critics suggested the race of the suspects, both of whom are black, played a role in CNN softening the language used to describe the crime.
In fact, by Sunday morning, CNN's framing of the crime as an "accident" was one of Twitter's top trending topics with more than 100,000 tweets.
Fortunately, more than $400,000 had been raised for Anwar's family by Sunday afternoon.