Police in Virginia say it appears a case of road rage led to the death of 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen.
The Muslim teenager went missing on her way back to the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling early Sunday, and her remains were found Sunday afternoon, not far away from the center. Darwin Martinez Torres, 22, was arrested and charged with murder Monday in connection to the case. In a statement, Fairfax County police said Hassanen's death "appears to be the result of a road rage incident involving the suspect, who was driving and who is now charged with murder, and a group of teenagers who were walking and riding bikes in and along a roadway. Our investigation at this point does not indicate the victim was targeted because of her race or religion."
A friend of Hassanen's, Asma Ibrahim, told BuzzFeed News she was told by teens who were with Hassanen before her death that they were walking back from McDonald's when two of the boys in the group insulted a man's car. He then tried to run them over on the sidewalk, and got out of the car with a metal bat and started chasing them. Another family friend told BuzzFeed News the suspect followed the teens from the McDonald's and threw a beer bottle at them. Officer Tawny Wright, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Police Department, confirmed that the suspect got out of his car and "the missing teen was the closest one to him. He assaulted her." Ibrahim told BuzzFeed News Hassanen was "very funny" and "a very good dancer" who was "dedicated to her school work," and most members of the mosque agree with the police assessment that Hassanen's death was not a hate crime "because of the altercation that happened right before."
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