The family of Lyft driver Philip Kim has filed a lawsuit accusing the company of negligence in his murder last year. They claim Lyft dispatched him to a dangerous Houston area despite knowing of recent attacks on rideshare drivers nearby. Anthony Perkins faces capital murder charges in the case.
Philip Kim, a 27-year-old Lyft driver, was shot and killed on February 26, 2025, in Harris County, Texas, after picking up a rider who allegedly used a fake identity to lure him there. The rider shot Kim, left him on the roadside, and fled with his car, which was later found crashed eight blocks away in a ditch, according to the lawsuit filed by Kim's family on Wednesday. Police informed the family that two minors were also involved, with one apprehended and the other at large. Anthony Perkins, 18, faces capital murder charges for the slaying and two prior incidents targeting rideshare drivers. Prosecutors say Perkins killed Kim after the shooting and crashed the stolen vehicle. In one earlier case on February 20, Perkins allegedly used his mother's Lyft account to order a ride to the 3000 block of Faulkner Street, about half a mile from Kim's location, where he and another suspect pulled guns on the driver. Kim's family alleges Lyft knew of these two robberies and carjackings less than a week earlier in the same vicinity but dispatched Philip anyway without warning him. The complaint states, 'Lyft dispatched Philip to this location without sharing any knowledge it had relating to the prior violent carjackings targeting rideshare drivers.' It accuses Lyft of 'greed and negligence,' claiming the dispatch was an 'affirmative action which caused plaintiff's assault and death.' Lyft owed a duty to protect its drivers, the suit argues. Kim's father, Mark Kim, told KPRC in March 2025 that he tracked his son's car via an AirTag to a Houston police lot that night, leading him to homicide detectives. 'He didn't do anything wrong,' Mark said of his son. Lyft declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. Attorney Sadi R. Antonmattei-Goitia called it a 'preventable tragedy' and seeks accountability.