Family mourns father of three caught in deadly crossfire during Uber trip

One week after Michael Almonte was shot and killed by a stray bullet while driving an Uber in North Philadelphia, his family is grappling with the reality that life can be taken in an instant.

The shooting has left them searching for answers and hoping that police will arrest the person who fired the bullet that killed Almonte, 34.

“We really just want justice,” said a cousin of Almonte’s who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal. “... In Philly, it’s getting very dangerous. People can’t even go out to go to work.”

At the bustling intersection of Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue on a recent day, shoppers sought shade in the midday heat while children and their parents strolled past vibrant murals and SEPTA buses passed by, headed toward Center City.

It was the scene where, Philadelphia police said, the bullet pierced Almonte’s rear windshield as he drove a passenger shortly before midnight on Jun. 14. The bullet narrowly missed the 18-year-old passenger in the back seat of his SUV who police said was unharmed but badly shaken.

The shooter was not aiming at Almonte or his passenger, police said. The gunfire erupted after an argument broke out on the sidewalk nearby, they said. Footage from a nearby security camera showed a group of five or six people arguing before one of them fired a weapon.

Almonte was struck in the head and later died at Temple University Hospital.

Police continue to investigate, but they have made no arrests and have not recovered a weapon.

Almonte’s family described him as a hardworking family man and devoted Christian who had recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of his marriage.

He and his wife, Patricia, had three children: two sons, ages 8 and 5, and a 4-year-old daughter. Relatives said Almonte loved being a father, styling his children’s hair, cooking their meals, and getting them to school each morning.

Before he started driving for Uber, Almonte worked as a limousine driver, his family said. He was rigorous about safety precautions, they said, and drove a vehicle with a bulletproof divider between the front seat and the rear cab.

“He’d always tell my mom that he wouldn’t drive without it, because he knows so many stories of other drivers that have gone through death or murder,” his cousin said.

But when Almonte switched to Uber, he wasn’t bothered by driving without a divider, believing that driving for an app-based company would be safer. His loved ones think a divider could have saved his life.

Almonte was an active parishioner at St. Veronica Catholic Church, where he sang in the choir and was working to organize a group that focused on the value of marriage. The Rev. Roberto Gurrola, the church pastor, said Almonte was dedicated to his faith and spoke often of God’s love.

“I can really say that he went to heaven,” Gurrola said. “He was just a wonderful person.”

A ceremony honoring Almonte’s life will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Veronica Catholic Church, 533 W. Tioga St.

This article has been updated to remove the name of a cousin of Almonte’s, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.