Suspect in fatal beating of Hollywood cab driver charged with capital murder

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Charges have been filed against a man arrested in the deadly beating of a cab driver in Hollywood.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged Najib Halibi, 34, with one count of murder with the special circumstance of murder during the commission of a robbery. The charge makes him eligible for the death penalty, the DA's office said.

Investigators say the Lakewood resident fatally beat cab driver Asifawosen Alemseged, 47, at a gas station in Hollywood on Sunday around 3 a.m.

He was riding in the taxi when he got into a dispute with Alemseged and then got out of the vehicle and began grabbing the driver and going through his pockets, officials said. Alemseged then got out of the cab and Halibi began beating him, then fled the scene, the DA's office said.

The driver was brought to a nearby hospital where he later died.

Halibi was arrested on Wednesday and is being held on $2 million bail.

The DA's office said it will decide at a later date whether to seek the death penalty in the case.