US prosecutors seek death in Muslim college student murders Craig Stephen Hicks

Craig Stephen Hicks sits in the Durham County courtroom on February 11, 2015 

A judge in North Carolina ruled Monday that prosecutors could seek the death penalty for a man accused of fatally shooting his three Muslim neighbors, US media reported.

Judge Orlando Hudson approved a motion by government attorneys allowing them to pursue a capital murder case against Craig Hicks, the Raleigh News and Observer newspaper reported.

Hicks, 46, is accused of killing Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his new wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her 19-year-old sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

The three college students lived in the same apartment complex in Chapel Hill where Hicks resided.

The newspaper wrote that Jim Dornfried, a Durham County assistant district attorney, told the court at a hearing that the state wanted to pursue the death penalty in part because of the heinous manner in which the killings took place.

Dornfried said 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," shooting Barakat several times, Dornfried said, according to the newspaper.

Hicks then sprayed the apartment with bullets, hitting the two women.

Before leaving the dwelling, Hicks shot each of the women in the head and fired again at Barakat as well, the News and Observer wrote.

Hicks is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and with discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.

News reports said authorities found an arsenal of weapons in his home, including 14 rifles and handguns, including a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

Authorities have said the murders may have been triggered by a long-running parking dispute, or possibly a hate crime.

Police documents showed that Hicks kept detailed pictures and notes about parking in the apartment complex where he killed the three.

He is not known to have specifically criticized Islam, but was an ardent antitheist, according to his Facebook postings and comments reportedly made by people who know him.

The murders sparked outrage in the state of North Carolina where friends and relatives of the victims said they were targeted because of their religion.

US President Barack Obama also decried the killings as "brutal and outrageous."

North Carolina prosecutors seek death penalty in killing of 3 Muslims

 

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; Yusor Mohammad, 21; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19; three Muslim students at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Hicks turned himself into...

 

Muslim students attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Deah Shaddy Barakat (right), 23, Yusor Mohammad (left), 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot and killed late Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Suspect in the shooting, Craig...

 

Muslim students attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha (center), 19, were shot and killed late Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Suspect in the shooting, Craig Stephen...

 

Muslim students attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot and killed late Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Suspect in the shooting, Craig Stephen Hicks,...

 

Muslim students attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad (left), 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot and killed late Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Suspect in the shooting, Craig Stephen...

By CNN Staff CNN

(CNN) -- Craig Hicks, who is charged in the deaths of three Muslim collegestudents in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, earlier this year, can face the death penalty, a judge ruled Monday, according to CNN affiliates.

Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson Jr. ruled that Hicks' case is "death penalty qualified," WRAL and WTVD reported.

The 46-year-old was arrested February 10 in the deaths of Yusor Mohammad, 21, her 23-year-old husband, Deah Shaddy Barakat, and 19-year-old sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha. All three were shot in the head.

Hicks, who was the victims' neighbor, turned himself in to police the night of the killings. The next week, he was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder and a count of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.

He had no prior criminal record, police said.

Police said "an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking" might have been a factor in the shootings but also said they weren't dismissing the possibility of a hate crime.

On what is believed to be Hicks' 

Facebook

 page, numerous posts rail against religion. The victims' family members have called on authorities to investigate the slayings as a hate crime.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement in February saying the department's Civil Rights Division, along with the the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina and the FBI, have opened "a parallel preliminary inquiry" to determine whether any federal laws, including hate crime laws, were violated.

"It has always been our position that Mr. Hicks should be held responsible for his actions to the full extent of the law. His killing of three college students was despicable, and now he must face the consequences of his actions," said Rob Maitland, an attorney for Hicks' wife. Karen and Craig Hicks are in the process of divorce.

..