Steve Burns
WMAL.com
FAIRFAX – (WMAL/CNN) It was road rage that sparked 22-year-old Darwin Martinez-Torres to assault, kidnap and kill a 17-year-old girl from Reston early Sunday morning, according to Fairfax Police. They stressed there is currently no evidence to support a hate crime prosecution, instead saying Martinez-Torres became enraged after one of Nabra Hassanen’s friends rode his bike into the street.
Hassanen and her friends were leaving a sleepover at the nearby All-Dulles Area Muslim Society to get food early Sunday morning, police said, when the incident occurred. After the initial encounter, police said Martinez-Torres caught up with the group again in a nearby parking lot. Her friends scattered, but Martinez-Torres was able to catch up with Hassanen.
“His anger over that earlier encounter then led to violence when he hit Nabra with a baseball bat,” Fairfax Police spokeswoman Julie Parker said. “Torres then took Nabra with him in his car” to Loudoun County, where she was assaulted again and eventually killed. Her body was found in a lake in Sterling. Martinez-Torres was arrested later that morning after officers reported him to be driving suspiciously around the scene.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on Martinez-Torres. In a statement, it said Martinez-Torres is an El Salvadoran national who has had no prior encounters with ICE.
Officials stressed Hassanen’s murder did not look to be a hate crime.
“No evidence has been recovered that shows this was a hate crime,” Parker said. “Nothing indicates that this was motivated by race or religion.”
Still, support was offered to the county’s Muslim community.
“All of us here today and watching at home stand with the family and the friends of Nabra, who had so much life ahead of her,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova said. “The fact remains that any violent murder is a senseless and a hateful act.”
Father: ‘This is a hate crime’
Nabra’s death has shaken the local Muslim community.
On Monday, her friends gathered outside her Reston apartment with flowers. In another apartment, her father, Mahmoud Hassanen, grieved with friends and neighbors while her mother mourned separately several doors away.
More than 40 Muslim families live together in the quiet Cedar Ridge apartment complex.
Mahmoud Hassanen told CNN he believes his daughter was targeted because of her religion.
“This is a hate crime,” he said. “It’s racism. Getting killed because she’s Muslim.”
He said his daughter “loved everybody. She liked to help other people.”
Hassanen said he immigrated from Egypt in 1987 and that he is an American citizen.
Nabra, the oldest of four sisters, was born in Washington, D.C., her father said.
His first born was “a beautiful lady,” who excelled in school, he said. “She liked music. She liked fashion.”
He said Nabra fell down as her friends got away before the alleged beating.
“I feel sorry for the guy who take my daughter’s life,” Hassanen said. “Why? We have to help each other, Muslim, Christian, Jew.”
Crying, wiping tears from his eyes, he said he taught his children “how to love other people.”
“She’s gone,” he said. “She’s not going to come back.”
He said Nabra’s 3-year-old sister asked for her on Monday morning. He didn’t have an answer, he said.
Timing of attack raising concerns
Despite what law enforcement says, its timing coming amidst a recent spike in attacks on Muslims raised concerns in the Muslim community and prompted calls for increased security.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American Islamic Relations, told CNN that his organization will be calling for a thorough investigation of a possible biased motive.
“We’d like to hear from the witnesses to the initial attack as to whether they heard any biased statements,” Hooper said. “Even if not, why is this individual targeting a group of people dressed in Muslim attire?
“Would they have been targeted if they hadn’t been of a certain faith or ethnicity? These are the kinds of questions we ask,” he said.
The attack happened hours before a man drove a van into a crowd of worshipers at a mosque in London.
“We are devastated and heartbroken as our community undergoes and processes this traumatic event,” said the ADAMS Center in a statement. “It is a time for us to come together to pray and care for our youth.”
A crowdfunding campaign for the girl’s family has already raised more than $220,000.
CNN contributed content to this report.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: launchgood.com via CNN)
