A Phoenix woman is jailed after police say she intentionally ran over and killed a man she recently met through a dating app

A Phoenix woman is in jail after police said she intentionally ran over and killed a man she had recently met through a dating app, in a case investigators say began as an in-person date and ended with the victim being struck by his own SUV.

Arizona’s Family reporter Mason Carroll reported that 30-year-old Mikela Antresa Bahe is facing charges including second-degree murder in connection with the death of 52-year-old Norris L. Taft. Police said Taft and Bahe had connected through the dating app MocoSpace before meeting in person on Sunday, May 3.

12 News reporter Tiani Jadulang also reported that court documents show Taft quickly became concerned after the meeting, texting relatives that he believed he had been “catfished” because the woman he met did not look like the person from the dating app profile.

A Date That Quickly Raised Concerns

Carroll reported that Taft picked up Bahe for their first in-person date, and police say the two later visited multiple locations, including a marijuana dispensary. Jadulang reported that court documents said Taft picked Bahe up at a Dunkin’ Donuts before the pair went to a dispensary and a Shell gas station, then returned to Taft’s apartment complex.

According to Jadulang, text messages included in the probable cause statement show that Taft told a nephew he had been catfished and was trying to end the date. The documents also said he had told family he was attempting to return Bahe to her residence or otherwise end the encounter.

That detail makes the case especially unsettling because the warning signs, at least according to police records, appeared before the fatal confrontation. Taft had already reached out to people close to him, suggesting he knew something was wrong and was trying to remove himself from the situation.

Carroll reported that police do not yet know every detail of what happened, but investigators say Taft’s messages to friends and family show he was worried only hours before Bahe allegedly ran him over and left the scene.

Surveillance Video Captured The Parking Lot

The fatal incident happened after the pair returned to Taft’s apartment complex in the area of 16th Street and Maryland Avenue, according to the reports.

Jadulang said security camera footage from the apartment complex showed a woman leaving the building and getting into a black SUV that had previously been registered to Taft. As the SUV began leaving the parking space, Taft entered the parking lot and stepped in front of the vehicle.

Court documents said Taft appeared to hold his arms out toward the SUV, as if signaling for the driver to stop.

According to Carroll, prosecutors said surveillance footage showed Bahe accelerating even though Taft was standing in front of the vehicle with his hands up. The SUV then struck him and dragged him underneath.

“There is strong evidence in this case,” prosecutors said during Bahe’s first court appearance, according to Carroll. “There’s surveillance footage that captured the defendant running over the victim.”

Prosecutors added that it “certainly looked like it was intentional,” saying Bahe was accelerating while Taft was in front of the SUV.

Taft was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

Family Says It Feels Unreal

Jadulang spoke with Taft’s daughter, Brianna Fallon, who said she had only recently learned the details surrounding her father’s death and still did not fully understand how he and Bahe knew each other.

“I still don’t know who it is. I don’t know how they met. I don’t know their relationship at all,” Fallon told 12 News.

Fallon said the case sounded like the kind of story people read about from a distance, not something that happens inside their own family.

“It’s just honestly hard to even fathom,” Fallon said. “It sounds like this is just like a story that you read that never actually happens to anybody you know, and then it happens to you, and it just doesn’t feel real.”

She also told Jadulang that, after speaking with the person who owns the apartment complex, she believes Bahe was trying to steal her father’s vehicle.

“It was really clear that she was trying to steal his car, and he ran after her, and she hit him, and then just left,” Fallon said.

Her comments add a family’s grief and confusion to what might otherwise read as a police narrative. For relatives, the case is not only about charges or surveillance footage, but about trying to understand how a dating app meeting ended in a sudden and violent death.

Police Say Bahe Left Phoenix For Flagstaff

Carroll reported that after Taft was hit, police say Bahe fled the scene. The driver was gone by the time first responders arrived.

According to investigators, surveillance footage later showed Bahe being dropped off at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport the next day. Jadulang reported that she then boarded a Groome Transportation shuttle headed to Flagstaff.

Carroll reported from a Denny’s in Flagstaff, where Bahe was arrested Wednesday with help from Flagstaff police. Her mother lives in Flagstaff, which Carroll noted may explain why she went to northern Arizona after leaving Phoenix.

Prosecutors argued that Bahe should be considered a flight risk because of the seriousness of the case and the potential prison sentence she faces.

“This is a murder case, and the defendant certainly has incentive to flee based on the lengthy prison sentence that she’s facing,” prosecutors said, according to Carroll’s report.

Bahe is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond.

Bahe Told Police She Could Not Remember

Carroll reported that court documents say Bahe admitted to being with Taft, but told detectives she could not remember anything that happened between leaving the dispensary and the next morning.

According to the documents, Bahe later called a family member and said she had “messed up” and would be going to prison for a while, then refused to answer any more questions from detectives.

During her first court appearance, Carroll reported, Bahe told the judge she was trying to figure out power of attorney for her 6-year-old daughter, who was with Bahe’s mother in Flagstaff.

“I want to figure out power of attorney because she is 6 years old and she is with my mother in Flagstaff,” Bahe said in court, according to Carroll’s report.

Bahe is charged with second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and theft of means of transportation. Jadulang reported that her next court date is set for May 13.

The SUV Remains Missing

One unresolved part of the case is the vehicle itself.

Jadulang reported that the SUV used in the incident, a black vehicle previously registered to Taft, remains outstanding. Carroll’s report identified it as a black 2010 Cadillac Escalade with Arizona license plate FBA 4SY, and detectives are asking for the public’s help finding it.

That missing vehicle matters not only because police say it was used to kill Taft, but also because it may help investigators reconstruct what happened after Bahe allegedly left the parking lot.

The case also raises a broader fear that is hard to ignore. Dating apps have become a normal way for people to meet, but this investigation shows the vulnerability that can come with meeting a stranger, especially when the person in front of you is not who you expected.

That does not mean most dating app encounters are dangerous, and it should not create panic around every online match. But Taft’s messages to family, saying he believed he had been catfished and was trying to end the date, are a reminder that when something feels wrong, it is worth taking seriously and letting others know where you are.

For Taft’s family, those warnings came too late to prevent what police say happened in the parking lot.

Jadulang reported that Taft’s loved ones have set up a fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses, while Bahe remains in custody as the case moves forward.