Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Craig Hicks Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 NC Murder of Three Muslim Students

  1. #1
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875

    Craig Hicks Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 NC Murder of Three Muslim Students


    Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19


    Craig Hicks


    Durham Co. DA to seek death penalty in fatal Chapel Hill shootings


    DURHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Durham County’s district attorney announced Monday he will seek the death penalty in the announced Monday he will seek the death penalty in the shooting deaths of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill.

    Previous:


    Police said Craig Hicks killed his neighbors in a parking dispute in February.

    Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were all found dead in their Chapel Hill condominium last week.

    Federal authorities are also investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.

    http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/loca...l-hill-/nkMGg/
    Last edited by Helen; 04-11-2019 at 03:07 PM. Reason: word "charged" missing from heading
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Death penalty hearing set for Craig Hicks, accused in Chapel Hill shooting of 3 Muslims

    DURHAM - Prosecutors will go before a Durham County Superior Court judge on Monday to begin laying out their case for pursuing the death penalty against Craig Stephen Hicks.

    Hicks, 43, turned himself in to Chatham County law enforcement officers on Feb. 10, less than an hour after Chapel Hill police found Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, dead inside a condominium on the eastern edge of town.

    Investigators contend Hicks, a neighbor of Deah Barakat and his wife, Yusor, shot and killed the couple and her sister amid a long-simmering parking dispute.

    As news spread quickly and globally on social media about the violent deaths of the three college-aged Muslims, questions grew about whether the motive for the killings was religious bias.

    The New York Times reported in February that photos taken the day after the shootings showed that none of the cars that Barakat, his wife or her sister used was parked in Hicks’ assigned space.

    Federal investigators are conducting an inquiry into whether case evidence supports federal hate-crime charges, which are very specific and difficult to prove. In such cases, where religious bias is alleged, the religion of the victims must be the predominant motivating factor for the crimes for a successful prosecution, legal scholars say.

    On Monday, Durham County District Attorney Roger Echols will be asked to provide some details of the case so Judge Orlando Hudson can decide whether capital punishment could be an option if first-degree murder convictions are won.

    Though Durham prosecutors often push for the death penalty as an option, few Durham juries have been asked in recent years to consider capital punishment.

    Prosecutors often use the possibility of death to negotiate pleas that avoid the cost, time and emotional strain of a trial.

    None of the 149 North Carolina inmates currently on death row was convicted in Durham.

    Accused, victims were neighbors


    The homicides happened at Finley Forest, a complex in a sliver of Durham County that falls within Chapel Hill city limits.

    Hicks, an unemployed community college student, lived in a second-story unit at 270 Summerwalk Circle. His wife of seven years owned the condominium when they married.

    Inside, he had a stash of guns that police seized during their investigation, according to search warrants.

    In 2013, Barakat’s father bought 272 Summerwalk Circle, a ground-level unit on the north side of the building where Hicks lived, so his son, a dental student at the UNC-Chapel Hill, could live and study there while in school.

    After a wedding in Raleigh on Dec. 27, Barakat and his new bride made the condominium their home. Razan, the younger sister of Yusor, had driven from Raleigh to Chapel Hill the afternoon of the shootings for a dinner date with the two.

    Notes on parking


    Family of the couple said they had taken steps early in the year to appease their angry neighbor, who often patrolled the parking lot with a gun in a holster on his hip.

    Search warrants from the case show that Hicks kept pictures and detailed notes on parking activity in the condominium complex.

    It’s unclear what else investigators have discovered in the computers and phones seized in the hours and days after the killings. Since his arrest, Hicks has been in Central Prison in Raleigh, where jailers can keep him isolated from others and in what they describe as “safe-keeping.”

    Family, friends and strangers inspired by the community-mindedness of the victims have worked since their deaths to honor their legacies with numerous charitable efforts.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/news/loc...e17460668.html


    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Man charged with killing 3 Muslims can face death penalty

    A man charged with first-degree murder in the killing of three Muslim college students can face a death penalty trial, a judge ruled Monday.

    Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson Jr. said prosecutors had two aggravating factors and that Craig Stephen Hicks is "death penalty qualified."

    Hicks is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Feb. 10 killings of 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat; his wife, 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha; and her sister, 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

    Prosecutors said Hicks he confessed, and that he was arrested with the murder weapon. Ballistics matched the handgun to shell casings recovered at the apartment and there was gunshot residue on his hands and one of the victim's blood was on his pants, prosecutors said.

    Police say Hicks, 46, appears to have been motivated by a long-running dispute over parking spaces at the Chapel Hill condominium complex where he lived in the same building as Barakat and his wife.

    The victims' families are adamant that they were targeted because they were Muslims and have pushed for hate-crime charges. The FBI is conducting what it has called a "parallel preliminary inquiry" to the homicide investigation to determine whether any federal laws were violated, including hate crime statutes.

    Search warrants filed by Chapel Hill police said Barakat was shot in the head near the entrance to his condo. The two women were found in or near the kitchen. Eight spent shell casings were found at the crime scene, investigators said.

    Earlier search warrants listed a dozen firearms recovered from the condo unit Hicks shared with his wife, in addition to the handgun he had with him when he turned himself in after the shootings.

    Hicks, who was unemployed and studying to become a paralegal, posted online that he was an atheist and a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

    Neighbors described him as an angry man who had frequent confrontations over parking or loud music, sometimes with a gun holstered at his hip. His social media posts often discussed firearms, including a photo posted of a .38-caliber revolver.

    http://www.wsfa.com/story/28726965/m...-death-penalty
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  4. #4
    richard johnson
    Guest
    Would Obama have even commented if the killer was a Muslim and the 3 victims were Christians? I find the crime to be heinous and the jerk deserves the needle but that doesn't seem to be what is important to Obama and his administration.

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Autopsy reports in Chapel Hill slayings offer more detail

    RALEIGH Autopsy reports released by the N.C. Medical Examiners office on Tuesday and Wednesday offer a more detailed glimpse at the gunshot wounds that killed Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha.

    The three Muslim students were killed in Chapel Hill in February inside a Finley Forest condominium on the eastern side of the college town. Craig Hicks, the neighbor of Barakat, 23, a UNC-Chapel Hill dental school student with ambitious plans, is in prison awaiting trial on murder accusations. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.

    The medical examiner reports stated that Barakat answered the door at the Chapel Hill condominium owned by his father and a confrontation ensued.

    Then, according to the autopsy report, Barakat, 23, a UNC-Chapel Hill dental school student with ambitious plans, was shot multiple times with two penetrating gunshot wounds in the head.

    He also had wounds in the chest and left arm with wounds on both hands that indicated he might have held them up to try to protect himself during the spray of gunfire that left four bullets inside his body.

    Razan, 19 and a design student at N.C. State University, was shot in the back of her head by a handgun that produced contact wounds, according to the reports.

    Her sister, Yusor, a recent N.C. State graduate preparing to enroll in UNC-CH dental school, also was shot in the head.

    The case has ignited questions about whether religious bias was the motivating factor for the killings.

    The autopsy reports released on Tuesday and Wednesday match details that have been released in search warrant documents and court hearings.

    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/new...e20346447.html

    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Durham judge sets Jan. 31 hearing in Craig Hicks case

    DURHAM - Judge Orlando Hudson scheduled a hearing in the Craig Stephen Hicks case for Jan. 31 to weigh requests from the attorneys representing the 48-year-old man charged with killing three Muslim college students in the Chapel Hill shootings in 2015.

    Hicks is accused of killing Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19.

    The killings occurred late in the afternoon of Feb. 10 at the Finley Forest condominium complex on the eastern edge of Chapel Hill. The shootings sparked a global debate about whether the motive was the escalation of a parking dispute or a hate crime.

    As the two-year anniversary of the shooting deaths approaches, the court hearing later this month could provide a fuller picture of the evidence prosecutors have in the case. Hudson scheduled the hearing on Thursday during a routine hearing in which prosecutors and defense attorneys update the chief resident Superior Court judge on the status of homicide cases pending in Durham County.

    Hicks did not appear at the hearing. The scheduling was done quickly, with little comment.

    Hicks, an unemployed community college student, lived in a second-story unit at 270 Summerwalk Circle in early 2015. His wife of seven years owned the condominium when they married. Police said Hicks, who had a stash of guns, was motivated to fire on the students because of a long-simmering parking dispute.

    At a hearing in April 2015, a judge allowed prosecutors to pursue the death penalty against Hicks. During the hearing, Jim Dornfried, a Durham County assistant district attorney, argued that not only were the homicides committed in the act of another felony, but the nature of the shootings played into the decision to designate it a capital case.

    On the afternoon of the shooting, Hicks went inside his home to retrieve a gun, then went to his neighbors’ door and had an exchange with Barakat.

    “He pulled out his concealed firearm” and shot Barakat, Dornfried said, and a spray of gunfire followed.

    The two women were in or near the kitchen, still alive, when Hicks shot them again in the head, Dornfried said. Hicks fired at Barakat again on the way out of the condominium, the prosecutor said.

    Dornfried said DNA evidence showed that Yusor Abu-Salha’s blood was on the pants Hicks was wearing after he turned himself in to Chatham County law enforcement officers.

    Investigators found eight spent shell casings inside the condominium.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/news/loc...#storylink=cpy

  7. #7
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Hearing delayed for man accused of killing Muslim students in 2015

    By Anne Blythe
    Charlotte Observer

    DURHAM - A hearing scheduled for Tuesday in the trial of a Chapel Hill man accused of killing three Muslim university students nearly two years ago has been delayed to a date uncertain, according to Durham County court officials.

    Craig Hicks, 48, is accused of murdering Deah Shaddy Barakat and his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, at a Chapel Hill condominium complex on Feb. 10, 2015.

    Police have said the shootings were over a long-running parking dispute between neighbors. Family of the victims – students at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University – have suggested that religious bias played a prominent role in the violence.

    Federal investigators opened an inquiry shortly after the homicides to determine whether to pursue a deeper investigation into the allegation of religious bias and the possibility of federal hate crimes. The results of that investigation have not been publicly released.

    Hicks turned himself in to Chatham County law enforcement officers after the shootings and has been imprisoned since.

    Attorneys are set to argue about computer evidence seized after the shootings, and what role any of the information will have for prosecutors and the defense team at a trial.

    Durham County’s chief resident Superior Court Judge, Orlando Hudson, has presided over the hearings in the Hicks case, including the one originally scheduled for Tuesday. One of the prosecutor’s witnesses was unavailable for the hearing Tuesday, forcing Hudson to postpone it.

    Hicks faces the possibility of being sentenced to death.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/news/loc...129680859.html

    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #8
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    JUDGE ORDERS DOCUMENTS IN CASE AGAINST ALLEGED CHAPEL HILL SHOOTER CRAIG HICKS RELEASED TO DEFENSE

    By Andrea Blanford
    WTVD-TV News

    DURHAM, North Carolina (WTVD) -- The man accused of killing three Muslim students in Chapel Hill more than two years ago was present in court during a hearing Tuesday.

    Craig Hicks is accused of shooting and killing a young Muslim couple and their relative after a dispute over parking. Hicks was known for arguing over parking spots at a Chapel Hill apartment complex and also making Facebook posts disdaining all religions.

    Tuesday's hearing dealt with a motion to release all the FBI notes in the case to the defense team. Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson ordered the documents released. While the shootings happened in Chapel Hill, it was technically a Durham County address, so the trial will be held in Durham with the Durham DA's office prosecuting.

    Authorities say 23-year-old Deah Barakat, his 21-year-old wife Yusor Abu-Salha, and her 19-year-old sister Razan Abu-Salha, were killed Feb. 10, 2015 in the couple's apartment.

    The FBI investigated the case as a possible hate crime, but no federal charges have been brought against Hicks.

    A judge ruled in April 2015 that prosecutors can seek the death penalty against the now 48-year-old, who's charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

    There's no firm date yet for the trial to begin.

    At the time of the killings, Barakat and Yusor Abu Salha were newlyweds, just married that December. Barakat was enrolled at the UNC School of Dentistry and his wife had just completed her biology degree at NC State and planned to begin her dental studies at UNC.

    Razan attended NC State and was studying architecture and environmental design. She was visiting her sister and brother-in-law at their home when the shootings happened.

    The victims' families have sought to keep their memories alive by continuing philanthropy work they started, including a dental clinic for Syrian refugees.

    http://abc11.com/news/judge-give-doc...fense/1800425/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    No trial date set for man accused of slaying Muslims in 2015

    DURHAM, N.C. – After four years, no trial date has been set for the man accused of gunning down his Muslim neighbors in North Carolina.

    The News & Observer reports Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry released a statement this month calling the case “one of the oldest pending homicides in Durham.” She says she’s working to resolve litigation to move the case forward.

    Craig Hicks is charged with first-degree murder in the February 2015 killings of 23-year-old Deah Barakat; his wife, 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha; and her sister, 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

    Members of different congregations gathered Saturday for the fifth Interfaith Food Drive in honor of the victims. At the drive, Barakat’s brother, Farris Barakat, said he’s torn between having “time to heal a little bit” and wanting swift justice.

    https://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/x...ng-muslims-in/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #10
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Man charged with 2015 killing of 3 students in Chapel Hill will not face death penalty

    DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) - Defense lawyers and prosecutors are reviewing the murder case against the man accused of killing the "Chapel Hill 3" in 2015.

    During a hearing Thursday morning, Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry announced that capital murder is off the table. Capital murder cases are eligible for the death penalty.

    Stephen Craig Hicks is accused of killing three people on Feb. 10, 2015, in their Chapel Hill apartment.

    Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot and killed at the Finley Forest Condominiums on Summerwalk Circle.

    In the days following the shooting, police said a preliminary investigation indicated that the motive behind the shooting was an ongoing dispute over parking. They also said that investigators were exploring why Hicks committed "such a senseless and tragic act."

    The victims' families maintain it was a hate crime.

    In 2015, Mohammad Abu-Salha, the father of the two sisters, told CBS 17 "We're holding strong. Our hearts are broken. This is a hate crime and that's how hate works."

    Barakat was in his second year at the UNC School of Dentistry while his wife, Yusor, was planning to attend the UNC Dentistry School following her time at N.C. State University. Yusor's sister Razan was a student at NCSU majoring in architecture and environmental design

    Barakat graduated from Broughton High School in Raleigh and Mohammad and Abu-Salha both attended Athens Drive High School in Raleigh.

    Since their deaths, the Our Three Winners Foundation was established by family members of the victims.

    It aims to end hate crimes "through a preventive, rather than reactive approach."

    Also in the wake of their deaths, Deah's brother, Farris Barakat, opened a youth group home in downtown Raleigh called The Light House Project.

    The Light House Project looks to end Islamaphobia and promote understanding.

    Hicks is being prosecuted by the Durham County District Attorney's Office as the killings took place in a part of Chapel Hill that is in Durham County.

    The case has not been heard, despite the crimes being committed more than four years ago.

    Deberry released a statement Thursday address the delay, that reads, in part:

    "After meeting with the families, I am committed to bringing that delay to an end. Today I announced my intention to try their accused murderer, Craig Hicks for first-degree murder in July of this year.

    The longer we delay the trial of Mr. Hicks, the longer we bring additional suffering to the Barakat and Abu-Salha families. To [ensure] we are able to bring this case to trial as quickly as possible and help begin the process of healing for the families, I have decided to try this as a noncapital case."

    https://www.wnct.com/news/north-caro...lty/1917944784
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •