Prosecutors allege a fatal parking-lot crash followed a failed dating-app meeting in Phoenix.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — An Arizona woman charged with murder after a dating-app meeting is accused of using the victim’s own SUV to run him over and then leaving Phoenix, police said.
Mikela Antresa Bahe, 30, was arrested May 6 in Flagstaff after the death of Norris L. Taft, 52. Phoenix police said Taft was hit May 3 in an apartment complex parking lot near 16th Street and Maryland Avenue. Bahe faces three counts: second-degree murder, theft of means of transportation and failure to remain at the scene of a fatal accident.
The legal case starts with the vehicle. Police said the SUV involved was a black Cadillac Escalade used mainly by Taft. The registered owner told investigators that no one other than Taft had permission to take it. Prosecutors are expected to treat the SUV as both stolen property and the instrument used in the killing. Police said the vehicle left the scene after Taft was struck and had not been immediately found, adding a continuing evidence issue to the homicide investigation.
Police were called around 4:08 p.m. on May 3 after a report that a pedestrian had been hit. Officers found Taft in critical condition, and fire crews transported him to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead there. At that point, investigators had a dead man, a missing SUV and a driver who had left the parking lot. The first task was to determine whether the crash was careless, reckless or intentional.
Apartment surveillance video shaped the murder allegation. According to court documents described by local media, the video showed a woman later identified as Bahe entering the SUV. Taft then stepped in front of it with his arms extended. Investigators said he appeared to be telling the driver to stop. The SUV moved forward, accelerated and struck him. Taft fell and was dragged under the vehicle before the SUV drove over him and left the complex. Phoenix police said homicide detectives concluded the driver intentionally struck Taft. That conclusion moved the case beyond a fatal hit-and-run. Second-degree murder in Arizona can cover a killing alleged to be knowing or intentional, or conduct showing extreme indifference to human life. The charge does not require the same proof of premeditation associated with first-degree murder, but it carries severe exposure if the defendant is convicted.
The theft charge depends on who had legal control of the Escalade. Police said Taft had been using the vehicle, and the registered owner reported that Bahe had no permission to drive away in it. The failure-to-remain count centers on the driver’s conduct after the crash. Arizona law requires drivers involved in serious injury or fatal collisions to stop and remain at the scene. Police said the SUV fled while Taft lay injured in the lot.
Investigators then built the pre-crash timeline. Taft had connected with a woman on MocoSpace, according to a nephew who spoke with police. The nephew said Taft called before the meeting and later sent a text saying the woman did not match the online profile and that he believed he had been catfished. Taft said he wanted to return her home or end the date, according to the account described in court documents.
Location data and business surveillance video placed Bahe with Taft before the crash, investigators said. Police said Taft picked up Bahe near 23rd Avenue and Thomas Road. The two stopped at a Curaleaf dispensary on Camelback Road and a Shell gas station on Seventh Street. Security footage showed a woman matching Bahe’s appearance getting out of the Escalade and making purchases, and dispensary records identified Bahe as the customer. Those records tied her to the vehicle before the fatal encounter at the apartment complex.
The post-crash timeline took detectives to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Police said security video showed Bahe boarding a shuttle bound for Flagstaff. Flagstaff police found her three days after the crash and arrested her. She was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. Her arrest gave investigators a suspect in custody but did not resolve the location of the SUV or every question about the final minutes before Taft was hit.
Bahe’s reported statement to police added another contested point. She told investigators she remembered being with Taft and being in Phoenix but did not remember events after leaving the dispensary, according to court documents described by local media. Police said she maintained that lack of memory even after being shown surveillance video. Investigators also alleged she later called a relative and said she had done something wrong and would go to prison.
The charging decision shows prosecutors are relying on more than the dating-app dispute. The alleged catfishing text helps explain the possible conflict, but the counts turn on conduct: who drove, how the SUV moved, whether Taft was visible, whether the impact was intentional and whether the driver left. Video, business records, phone data and witness accounts are expected to carry more weight than the label attached to the failed date. Several facts remain unknown. Police have not released the full surveillance video, the full court filing, the complete text messages or any detailed account of what Bahe and Taft said to each other inside the SUV. Authorities also have not said whether the dating-app profile was fake, misleading or created by someone else. Bahe is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case remained in its early court stage after Bahe’s arrest. The next steps were expected to include further filings, evidence disclosures, hearings on the charges and continued work to locate or process the Escalade connected to Taft’s death.
Author note: Last updated May 28, 2026.