Delco Woman Admits To Shooting, Carjacking

UPPER DARBY, PA — A Delaware County woman pleaded guilty in connection with a local carjacking and shooting Wednesday, federal authorities.

United States Attorney David Metcalf said Phillis Fugah, 24, of Upper Darby, pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking, and one count of using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Fugah was charged in November 2024 in connection with the Aug. 29, 2024, incident on the 7100 block of West Chester Pike in Upper Darby.

Authorities said Fugah admitted that she and a man rushed a Honda Pilot parked at the above location, where a man sat in the backseat with his two young children, awaiting his wife’s return.

The man fled the scene after opening the passenger side door.

Fugah pulled open the front driver’s-side door, got behind the wheel, aimed a gun at the man, and demanded money.

The victim's five-year-old son jumped out of the open front passenger door onto the sidewalk.

The man got out of the rear driver’s side door and told Fugah that his infant child was still in the vehicle, as he tried to open the front driver’s side door. Fugah resisted and struggled with the man over the door.

Fugah raised her gun and shot at the man, with the bullet partially shattering the driver’s side window and hitting the man’s baseball cap, narrowly missing his head.

A piece of the bullet struck the window of an occupied SEPTA bus across the street, passing over the heads of several passengers. Fugah then drove off in the Honda Pilot, which was soon found a short distance away with the infant inside and unharmed.

Fugah is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.