ST. LOUIS – “He was just full of life and smiled constantly. I think he encouraged other people to, I guess, live their life to the fullest,” said Rochelle Ameer, remembering her son Ameer.

Andrew Ameer’s smile was as bright as his future.

“He told me, ‘Mom, I made a decision. I want to go to graduate school and become a psychologist,” Rochelle said.

Ameer says her son was committed to accomplishing his goal.

“That’s why he decided to start driving for Lyft so he could have more room for school,” Rochelle said.

On Sept. 28, 2020, Andrew Ameer’s dreams and his family’s world shattered.

That night, Ameer was driving for Lyft when he answered a call for a ride at Riverview and Gast in north St. Louis. Police say Ameer was lured to the location.

When he arrived, two teenage boys tried to carjack him at gunpoint, ultimately shooting and killing Ameer.

“I saw his car sitting there with the door open and the lights on. I guess the engine was running and police were all around it. The app was open on his phone. He was brought to the hospital. They tried to save him, but they couldn’t. He was shot multiple times. I think about if he suffered before he passed away. It was unbelievable. He was 27,” Rochelle said.

What happened to Andrew Ameer is the focus of a wrongful death lawsuit against Lyft.

The lawsuit alleges Lyft knows its drivers face a very high risk of assault but failed to take reasonable steps to protect them from that risk.

The suit accuses Lyft of having mechanisms to protect drivers but doing nothing to ensure their installation and use. It also alleges Lyft does not use its technological capabilities to screen or implement safety mechanisms that mitigate the risk of violence against drivers.

“It kind of all starts out with this legal fiction that the drivers themselves are not employees of Uber and Lyft, that they’re their own, you know, own bosses and own companies,” said Attorney Johnny Simon of the Simon Law Firm in St. Louis.

Simon is representing Rochelle Ameer in this case.

On March 3, the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s decision to dismiss Ameer’s wrongful death lawsuit against Lyft. For the first time in Missouri history, the court ruled a rideshare app is a “product” and subject to Missouri’s product liability laws.

“I think it comes down to the fundamental premise of, you know, companies who send products or services into the marketplace and reap billions of dollars in profits, what recourse are we going to give? What comes with that right? What? What recourse do consumers have against those entities?” Simon said.

The night Andrew Ameer was killed, the lawsuit alleges the people who lured him to the scene created an account in the Lyft app using a false name, a false email address and an anonymous form of payment.

In other states, Lyft requires passengers using the Lyft app with an anonymous form of payment to provide identification showing their name or mailing address. But Missouri law doesn’t require those security features.

“I think when you try to legislatively enact one-size-fits-all solutions to a wide range of circumstances, that’s never going to be good, and in this circumstance in particular, it’s not good for those who are most egregiously injured by ride share misconduct,” Simon said.

A Lyft spokesperson told FOX 2 News the company cannot comment on specific incidents involving pending litigation.

In a statement, Lyft said it “condemns violence of any kind, and our hearts go out to victims affected by this type of behavior, which has no place in our society. Safety is fundamental to Lyft and our Community Guidelines make it clear that violence, harassment, and any form of harm are unacceptable on our platform.”

Rochelle Ameer says she’ll keep Andrew’s memory alive by pushing for policies she believes could prevent similar deaths.

“I try not to be angry about it, but I feel like there is some responsibility when this happens to someone. Things weren’t done right and maybe if they were, this wouldn’t have happened, and I don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” Rochelle said.