A grand jury has formally indicted a 22-year-old man on charges of capital murder and rape in the death of Nabra Hassanen, who was killed on her way back to a mosque in Virginia.
Darwin Martinez-Torres, of Sterling, Virginia, was charged Monday in Fairfax County District Court with four counts of capital murder for the killing of Nabra, who was with friends while they dined before a Ramadan service. Dozens of people gathered outside the courthouse today. chanting “Justice for Nabra.”
Virginia law has specific conditions for the death penalty, but the Associated Press reported that the grand jury indictment detailed how Nabra's murder was carried out. grounds for the death penalty v. Martinez-Torres. The indictment appears to be the first to admit that a 17-year-old Muslim teenager was raped. Under state law, combining the rape charge with the premeditated murder charge means the death penalty could be applied.
Police said Martinez-Torres, an undocumented immigrant, got into an argument June 18 with a group of teenagers returning to a Muslim community in the Dulles area after a late lunch. He is accused of later returning and beating Nabra with a baseball bat. Police said Nabra's body was later found in a pond. A search warrant affidavit states that Martinez-Torres confessed to killing Nabra and led authorities to where he dumped her body, the AP reported.
Nabra's parents and Muslim advocates said Nabra's death was motivated by hatred, but police said they would not treat the killing as a hate crime. Instead, the police said it was road incident.
“The reason this guy hit my daughter is because she is Muslim,” Nabra’s father Mahmud Hasanen. Told Varma. “Why [didn’t he] hit the boy who was bothering him?
Nabra's father added that he hopes for the death penalty, while her mother said she wants Martinez-Torres to serve a life sentence.
“I just want people to remember her and not forget her,” Mahmoud told WAMU. “I don’t think anyone can forget her either, considering what she did in her life.”
Preliminary hearings have reportedly taken place for Martinez-Torres. became emotional on Friday as Nabra's parents both screamed at the suspect in court. Nabra's mother, Sawsan Gazzar, apparently threw a shoe at Martinez-Torres during the proceedings.
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