HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. --- A Hendry County man was found guilty for the murder of a taxi cab driver in 2015.
According to the State Attorney's Office, Joe McCray, 48, was found guilty of Manslaughter with a Firearm and Robbery with a Firearm causing death and is facing life in prison at his sentencing on Friday.
In September 2015, the taxi driver was hired by two woman to drive them from the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in Miami to Okeechobee. According to one of the women they were meeting up with a friend but the friend became unavailable and the cab fare was $600.
According to investigators the women didn't have money for the fare and asked the taxi driver to drive them to Clewiston. The women then called McCray asking him to drive them back to Miami once they arrived in Clewiston. He agreed and met them in a Clewiston parking lot.
The two women got out of the cab and into McCray's car, while he got out. Investigators then say he walked up to the victim and robbed him at gunpoint. Once the driver resisted McCray, he shot him in the leg and stole approximately $16 in cash from the victim.
The trio then got into McCray's car and left the taxi driver bleeding on the ground.
Investigators say McCray then went back to his home to change his clothes and switch cars. He also stopped at a convenience store and spent the victims money on beer. McCray and the two women drove back to the reservation in Miami.
The victim was found bleeding in the Clewiston parking lot by a woman going to work out. He died a short time later from his injuries.
