By: Paige Fry, Editor-in-Chief
On February 10, 2015, 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks banged on the door of his newly-wed Muslim neighbors’ house at Chapel Hill’s Finley Forest apartment complex. After the husband opened the door, Hicks proceeded to shoot and kill Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, with his rifle. All of the victims were Muslims of Arab descent, Barakat and Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha were husband and wife, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha was Yusor’s sister.
Authorities came to the apartment after two 911 calls from surrounding neighbors who heard multiple gunshots and screams. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene from several shot wounds to the head.
Hicks turned himself in to authorities a few hours after the shootings and is now charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is eligible to be tried for capital punishment.
The dispute of the matter is whether or not Hicks will be charged for a hate crime, violence that is tinted with discrimination. His victims were Muslim and both of the young women wore hijabs, which leads some to believe it was a hate crime. If the killings are labeled as a hate crime, the law may come down much harder on the defendant and also come with an additional sentence.
Senior Swathi Konduri says, “I feel that [this case] shows that racism could happen anywhere, not just ‘crazy red-neck towns’.”
A very expressive atheist, Hicks has posts of very controversial religious topics, links, and photos of his guns on what is believed to be his Facebook page. Friends and neighbors of the victims have also told authorities that Hicks had come to the couple’s doorstep “more than once […] with a gun in his waistband,” and Mohammad Abu-Salha’s father told authorities that his older daughter once told him, “Daddy, we feel [Hicks] hates us for who we are and how we look.”
Hicks and his wife, Karen Hicks, who was in the middle of divorce proceedings at the time of the crime, claim that the murder was over numerous parking disputes and had nothing to do with the victims’ religion. Karen Hicks also spoke out about Hicks being pro-choice, supporting gay rights, and believing in equality.
Social media, however, mostly did not agree with Hick’s claim and questioned why someone would murder a neighbor over a parking dispute. The #muslimlivesmatter hashtag developed after the shootings in effort to bring attention to the case and echoed the #blacklivesmatter hashtag, which came from the Michael Brown and Eric Garner deaths in order to raise awareness of unarmed blacks killed by authorities. Some also believe that if the murderer was Muslim and the victims were nonreligious, the media and law enforcement would quickly assume the situation as a hate crime or terrorist act.
“I think it was a hate crime. Hicks says it was over a parking dispute, but he went home to get his gun, and who does that over a parking dispute? [I believe] there would have been a much larger response if the murderer was Muslim and the victims were nonreligious; people would have reverted to the “post 9/11” headspace,” says senior Joe Sharrow.
For the authorities it is difficult to label this crime as a hate crime because there isn’t much concrete evidence of bias, according to police in North Carolina. Searches on Hicks’ computer have reportedly not come up with anything that may be used as evidence, and Hicks’ mental health history is currently being investigated.
The media and authorities are in agreement on one thing— the victims were all wonderful people.
Barakat had founded the charity Syrian Dental Relief and raised thousands of dollars for the dental health of Syrian refugees. He was known as strong-willed and passionate about his future dental career. He was a second-year dental student at the UNC School of Dentistry. Friends said that he did everything he could to go to dental school, even taking night classes and practicing for the Dental Admission Test by himself.
Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha was a graduate of N.C. State University where she had studied human biology and had been admitted into the UNC School of Dentistry and planned on joining her husband there in August. Yusor volunteered with Refugee Smiles, a program where she traveled to Turkey and provided dental care to anyone in need. She was known as always being a pleasure to be around, very comforting, and loving.
Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha was a sophomore at N.C. State University and was studying architecture and environmental design. Her friends claimed she spent long hours in her design studio completing deadlines and would go home on the weekends, wake up early and give food to the homeless in downtown Raleigh. She was known to be creative, artsy, kind, and compassionate. She was also a graphic designer for the Triangle chapter or United Muslim Relief and always wanted to find a way to get rid of poverty.
“I believe that America as a whole should know that true Muslims believe and act upon the idea of peace and that’s the foundation of our religion, and that in a time of crisis we’ll come together as a community to support all of those who are suffering. I feel that the [Muslim community] acted in a suitable way because they were sympathetic to the victims and their family, and they reacted quickly and appropriately to any public commentary,” says junior Samah Meghjee. “It is important to remember and understand that Islam is a large and varied religion, and it would be incorrect to assume that the small portion of those who claim to be Muslim and disturb the peace, which we support, represent us. To the victims’ families, I would say that your son and daughters were remarkable people. They were young, inspired, and driven, and I promise that their values will live on in the generations of Muslims to come.”
In love of all the victims, a charity page made by Barakat has raised over $520,000 after his murder. And family members of the victims made an “Our Three Winners Trust” fund, which has raised over $840,000 and all the money is going towards funding education, dental relief, and service projects to help those in need.
The only thing left to hope for is that proper justice will be served for this case, the victims’ families will find peace and closure, the victims’ legacies will live on, and everyone will remember that Muslim lives do matter, just as everyone’s does.