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Daily Mail
02-08-2025
- Daily Mail
Fate of parents accused of attempting to murder daughter outside American school in 'honor killing' revealed
A Washington couple accused of trying to strangle their teenage daughter in an alleged 'honor killing' outside a suburban high school have both been found not guilty of attempted murder. Ihsan and Zahraa Ali stood trial for the shocking broad-daylight attack last fall outside Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington State where prosecutors said the pair tried to kill their 17-year-old daughter after she refused an arranged marriage. After three days of deliberations, jurors convicted Ihsan Ali of assault and unlawful imprisonment. His wife Zahraa was found guilty of violating a court order but acquitted of the more serious charges, including attempted murder, assault, and unlawful imprisonment. Ihsan, who remains in custody, faces up to 14 months in prison for assault and an additional 12 months for unlawful imprisonment while Zahraa was released on Thursday on personal recognizance and is under strict orders to remain in Thurston County and avoid any contact with her daughter. The case drew national attention last October after terrifying video footage emerged of Ihsan Ali putting his 17-year-old daughter, Fatima Ali, in a chokehold outside her high school, allegedly in retaliation for refusing an arranged marriage and for dating an American boy - actions he reportedly viewed as bringing shame upon the family. The viral footage first published by the Daily Mail showed Fatima collapsing on the pavement, only for her father to continue strangling her unconscious body for nearly 20 seconds, according to prosecutors. 'She's unconscious, and he continues to strangle her around the neck for another 15-18 seconds and would have continued to do so even longer but for the intervention of those adults,' prosecutor Heather Stone told jurors at the trial. Video showed Ihsan on the ground outside his daughter's school, Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, with her in a chokehold while her boyfriend and classmates repeatedly punched and kicked him to force him to release her Witnesses testified that even after Fatima went limp, Ihsan refused to let go. Among the rescuers were Fatima's boyfriend Isiah, and multiple classmates who repeatedly punched, kicked, and stomped the 44-year-old father in a desperate effort to break the chokehold. In the most gut-wrenching moment of the trial, Fatima, now 18, took to the stand to testify against her own parents. 'Did you have any fear?' Stone asked. 'Yes.' 'Fear of what?' 'Of dying,' Fatima choked out, her voice breaking into a sob. She was barely able to respond 'no' when asked if she could say anything during the attack. '[I'm] heartbroken for what my dad did,' she said, sobbing as she described losing consciousness four times during the attack. Fatima recalled the sensation of dirt on her face, pain in her neck, and her father's arms around her throat. She said she saw 'darkness' before glimpsing her boyfriend and another friend standing over her. The court heard how Fatima had run away that morning after discovering her parents had bought her a one-way plane ticket to Iraq, allegedly to force her into marriage. She fled with just a bag of clothes and $100 she had stolen from her mother. But when school ended that day, her parents were waiting for her at the bus stop. Ihsan's fury erupted when she refused to come home. Witnesses said he punched Isiah in the face, then lunged at his daughter. Prosecutors argued the attack was rooted in a planned 'honor killing,' a culturally motivated act meant to restore perceived family honor. While the court barred the phrase from being used in front of jurors, investigators and witnesses referenced it repeatedly in early police reports and pretrial interviews. Fatima had told police at the time that her father threatened to kill her several times for refusing the arranged marriage and dating a non-Muslim boy. She said she feared she'd never return if sent to Iraq. Prosecutors attempted to argue that motive in court, but Judge Christine Schaller excluded it, citing potential prejudice. Without the motive, prosecutors leaned heavily on video evidence and eyewitness testimony. Bus driver John Denicola testified: 'Obviously, she was in distress, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head, you could tell she was not able to breathe… The look on [Ihsan's] face and the way he was squeezing, he was choking her.' Another rescuer, Josh Wagner, a US Army veteran, testified he 'held Ihsan down' until police arrived. 'Her face was changing color… it was very obvious she was being choked,' he said. Zahraa Ali's fate was more complex. While prosecutors alleged she attempted to finish the job after her husband was subdued - with Fatima testifying she felt her mother grabbing at her neck - the jury rejected the murder charge, citing insufficient evidence of intent. 'And when you look at that video, you see she does not provide any aid at any time to her child, zero aid,' prosecutor Stone argued. 'That is not an effort to comfort her child.' But defense attorney Tim Leary insisted Zahraa was simply 'trying to protect [Fatima] from the chaos.' 'You will see my client, her mom, come and attempt to help her daughter,' he said. 'She is holding her daughter, she's not holding on to her neck.' Leary also reminded the jury that Fatima initially told police she didn't believe her mother tried to hurt her - though she later changed her mind. 'She was just trying to protect me from the chaos,' Fatima told officers. On the stand, she said it was more that she 'didn't want to believe' her mother would harm her. Throughout the trial, defense attorneys hammered home one point that there was no intent to kill. 'There's no nefarious intent,' said Ihsan's lawyer Erik Kaeding. 'There's no intent to hurt anybody badly, there's no intent to kill anybody. There's an intent to take your daughter home.' Zahraa's attorney said similar. 'They certainly could've done things differently, but that does not make this a crime,' Leary said. Legal experts say prosecutors faced an uphill battle from the outset, largely due to pretrial rulings that barred them from discussing the alleged motive. Judge Schaller ruled that discussing arranged marriage, threats of honor killings, or family history of abuse would unfairly bias the jury. As a result, what began as a trial labeled by the media and public as an 'honor killing case' never once used the phrase inside the courtroom. Prosecutor Olivia Zhou never alluded to the motive in her opening statement, focusing instead on the severity of the attack. Ihsan Ali remains behind bars until his mid-August sentencing. His wife Zahraa is free but under strict conditions.
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Hero schoolboy cries as he reveals how he saved girlfriend when her parents 'tried to strangle her in honor killing'
A teenage boy cried on the witness stand as he told how he saved his girlfriend's life while her parents allegedly tried to strangle her in a religious 'honor killing'. Fatima Ali, now 18, was nearly killed in a chokehold by her father, Ihsan Ali, after she refused to travel to Iraq for an arranged marriage, prosecutors said. Isiah, whose full name is not being used as he is a minor, told Thurston County Superior Court in Washington how he punched Fatima's father in the head 30 or 40 times in a bid to stop the attack outside of Timberline High School on October 18. 'Her face was looking pale and her eyes were starting to roll back,' he said on Wednesday. When prosecutor Heather Stone asked him to elaborate, he broke down in tears, and his testimony had to be stopped. Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, are charged with second-degree attempted murder and attempted kidnapping of their daughter last year. They have been behind bars since the attack on bonds of $1 million and $500,000. Terrifying footage first published by the Daily Mail showed Ali put her in a chokehold on the ground until Isiah and bystanders rescued her. Ihsan and Zahraa are accused of attempting to carry out a Muslim 'honor killing' on Fatima for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man, prosecutors said. Fatima earlier told the court she fled her home at 6am with just a bag of clothes and $100 hours before she was supposed to be on a one-way trip to Najaf in Iraq. She met with her counselor at Timberline, who got her a place at Haven House, a youth crisis center, but the school didn't provide transport. Isiah, who was 16 at the time, escorted Fatima to the bus stop, and Ihsan was waiting when they arrived. He said: 'We're walking towards the bus stop and he starts to get more aggressive. We see the bus and then he grabbed her shoulder. 'I tried to push them away from each other. I look back at him and then he punches me. For a second I don't know what happened and then I saw him grab her.' Isiah bounced his leg as he told the court he 'flew back' from the force of the punch and watched as Ihsan 'spun Fatima around' and grabbed her by the throat. The teen boy demonstrated with his arms how Ihsan put Fatima in a 'headlock' on the ground and choked her even after she lost consciousness. 'I start punching him as he's choking her and other people around me are trying to get him off of her,' he said. 'She's gasping for air, trying to get his arms off her throat. At first she was trying to fight it, but then she went limp. It's chaotic, everyone is screaming.' Isiah said he kept punching Ihsan until 'his eyes closed and his grip released.' The teen boy broke a finger during the ordeal. Once Ihsan was restrained by a passing motorist, Isiah said he tried to get Fatima to her feet so they could go somewhere safe. That was when Zahraa and Fatima's eldest sister Haneen, 21, showed up. 'Her mother is screaming and she grabs Fatima around her throat area,' Isiah told the court. The boy said his neck was scratched and his chain was broken by Haneen. Fatima, who was 17 at the time, told the jury how her consciousness slipped away in her father's grasp. Stone asked Fatima, a petite 5ft 1in girl, what she was thinking as she struggled to stay alive. 'Heartbroken for what my dad did,' she said, before admitting she was scared she was going to die. She said: 'I saw darkness at first. [Then] I saw Isiah and a friend standing above me.' The trial is expected to continue for the rest of the month.
American Military News
17-07-2025
- American Military News
Video: Iraqi parents on trial for attempted ‘honor killing' of teen daughter in Washington
Two Iraqi parents in Washington state are currently facing trial in the Thurston County Superior Court for allegedly attempting to execute an 'honor killing' of their 17-year-old daughter after she refused to go to a foreign country as part of an arranged marriage to an older man. According to Fox News, 44-year-old Ihsan Ali and 40-year-old Zahraa Ali have been charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree attempted kidnapping, and second-degree domestic violence assault. Zahraa Ali has also been charged with second-degree burglary and for violating a domestic violence protective order, while Ihsan has been charged with fourth-degree assault. Fox News reported that the alleged 'honor killing' attempt occurred outside Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, on October 18, 2024. The outlet noted that the 17-year-old victim told law enforcement officials that her Ihsan Ali was 'trying to force her to go to another country, which had prompted her to run away earlier in the day.' The victim explained that she was planning to travel on a city bus from the school to a local shelter that her school counselor had helped her find. However, an affidavit obtained by Fox News claimed that Ihsan Ali allegedly approached the victim while she was waiting for the bus and told her that she 'needed to go home.' READ MORE: Video: Parents violently choke their own daughter in 'honor killing' incident 'He would not take no for an answer and began pulling at her shirt,' the affidavit stated. 'She said that once she was placed into a choke hold, she was unable to breathe or speak, and then passed out.' The affidavit also noted that the 17-year-old claimed she lost consciousness multiple times as her father attempted to choke her. According to The Post Millennial, eyewitnesses of the attempted 'honor killing' incident explained that the victim's father repeatedly told her, 'It's not right… you are not supposed to this,' while he placed her in a chokehold. A graphic video shared on X, formerly Twitter, shows students and other bystanders trying to help the victim as her father continued to choke her. The 17-year-old's boyfriend, who was allegedly punched by Zahraa Ali while attempting to intervene in the incident, told law enforcement officials he thought his girlfriend was 'going to die while her father was choking her out on the ground.' According to KOMO News, the victim and her boyfriend were ultimately able to escape from the incident, ran inside the school, and reported that the victim's father had attempted to kill her. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: 📍 Lacey, WA Attempted Honor Killing Ihsan Ali attempted to choke his 17 year old daughter to death outside Timberline High School. The attempted 'honor killing' was after she refused an arranged marriage to an older man in another country. Bless those who helped her. 🙏 — PNW Conservative (@UnderWashington) November 17, 2024
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Teen describes moment she was choked by father in attempted 'honor killing' after refusing arranged marriage
A teenage girl sobbed as she told a court how she feared for her life as her own father choked her during an alleged 'honor killing'. Fatima Ali, 18, was giving evidence against her parents Ihsan Ali, 44, and mother Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, at their attempted murder trial on Tuesday. The couple are accused of trying to strangle their daughter outside Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, on October 18 last year. Terrifying footage first published by the Daily Mail before the trial, and shown to the court today, shows Ihsan put her in a chokehold on the ground until her boyfriend Isiah, classmates, and bystanders rescued her. Fatima, who was just 17 when she was attacked, bravely told the jury of the agonizing moments her consciousness slipped away in her father's grasp. The petite 5ft 1in girl weighting just 101lbs felt his arms around her throat and 'dirt on my face' from the ground, couldn't breathe, and had pain in her neck. Prosecutor Heather Stone asked what Fatima was thinking as she struggled to stay alive. 'Heartbroken for what my dad did,' she said. 'Did you have any fear?' Stone asked. 'Yes.' 'Fear of what?' 'Of dying,' Fatima choked out, her voice breaking into a sob. She was barely able to respond 'no' when asked if she could say anything during the attack. Fatima was in such a state that Thurston Superior Court Judge Christine Schaller called a recess. The teenager explained she lost consciousness four times during the attack and only has flashes of memory. 'I could see my hand reaching my neck... because I knew my dad was choking me,' she said of one of them. 'I saw darkness at first. [Then] I saw Isiah and a friend standing above me.' Ihsan and Zahraa are accused of attempting to carry out a Muslim 'honor killing' on Fatima 'for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another county'. Fatima told police at the time her father threatened her with the barbaric practice multiple times, and was furious she was dating an American boy. Her parents planned to send her to their home town of Najaf in Iraq on a one-way ticket hours before she sneaked out of the house about 6am with just $100 she took from her mother and a bag of clothes. Fatima told the court she never told her parents she didn't want to get on the plane because 'no matter what I say it doesn't really change'. When she got to Timberline, the school counselor helped her find a place at Haven House, a youth crisis center, and gave her a blanket and a laptop to continue her studies. But the school didn't offer her a ride to the shelter, so when school ended at 2pm she walked to the bus stop with Isiah, who was 16 at the time. They saw what they thought was Ihsan's pickup truck but hoped it wasn't. He was already at the bus stop when they arrived. Fatima testified that at first her father didn't appear angry as he asked her to come home with him, but she 'felt the energy and intensity [increase]'. '[I told him] I didn't wanna go back home,' she said. Did he accept that? 'No.' 'Every time that I backed away, he comes closer.' Fatima said Isiah was by he side patting her back to comfort her as she argued with her dad in Arabic, but this seemed to make Ihsan angrier. When the bus finally arrived, Fatima turned to get on it and Ihsan grabbed her hoodie and said 'my daughter' in Arabic, she told the court. Isiah tried to push Ihsan away, but footage from the bus cameras showed the much larger man punch him in the face and send him flying. With the teen boy out of the way, he went after his daughter, grabbing her by the throat as she tried to flee. The girl's boyfriend jumped to his feet and along with two others boys charged at Ihsan and tried to pull him away, knocking both to the ground. The boys began punching, kicking, and stomping Ihsan as he put his daughter in a chokehold and refused to let go despite the flurry of blows. Fatima told the court she woke up hearing her mother saying 'my daughter' and felt feels Zahraa holding onto her chest and her neck. Prosecutors and witnesses alleged Zahraa was trying to finished the honor killing by strangling Fatima after Ihsan was subdued. Fatima said she initially couldn't get up and eventually when she was pulled away from her mother's grasp and tried to walk away, her legs were weak. She said her older sister Haneen, 21, who is not charged with a crime, was holding on to her sleeve and she tried to get her to let go. Eventually Haneen released her and she ran towards the school. Fatima told the court she was trying to get away from mother and sister because 'I was afraid'. She said she couldn't have gotten away if she was alone, but wasn't asked if that meant she would have died. Fatima ran into the school office, pursued by her mother. 'I told them he (Ihsan) was trying to kill me,' she said. Prosecutors did not ask the teenagers about the years of abuse she told police her father subjected her and her siblings, or about Ihsan's alleged threats to kill her. Judge Schaller ruled prosecutors couldn't bring up the arranged marriage or allow Fatima to talk in detail about a family trip to Iraq when she was 16. She only told the court 'I felt unsafe' when she was there. Fatima told police in her interview last year that the trip made her fearful of being sent there to be married off and never allowed to return to the US. Ihsan's lawyer Erik Kaeding and Zahraa's attorney Tim Leary will continue cross-examining Fatima on Wednesday. Isiah is also expected to give evidence this week. Witnesses, including Isiah and Fatima's classmates, gave evidence earlier in the trial about what they saw during the horrifying attack. John Denicola, a bus driver who stopped to help and whose cameras recorded the melee, told the court how he frantically tried the save the girl. 'Obviously, she was in distress, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head, you could tell she was not able to breathe,' he said. 'The look on [Ihsan's] face and the way he was squeezing, he was choking her.' Denicola said Ihsan didn't say anything as he choked Fatima, but his eyes were 'wide open' and he 'was focused on his task at hand'. Josh Wagner, a motorist who stopped his car in the middle of the road and ran to help, described how he freed Fatima from her father's chokehold. 'Her face was changing color as she was being choked... she was gonna lose consciousness if it continued... it was very obvious she was being choked,' he told the court. Wagner, a 13-year US Army veteran, held Ihsan down until police arrived and handcuffed him. Both Denicola and Wagner said the dozens of punches and kicks Isiah and his classmates laid into Ihsan were ineffective at getting him to stop choking Fatima. Wagner's wife Mary Wagner described how Fatima ran in front of her behind the tree pursued by Zahraa and her eldest sister Haneen, 21, then ran towards the school - as shown on the video Wagner's wife Mary, who watched the attack from her car before crossing the road moments later after Fatima was back on her feet. 'She appeared incredibly confused, she seemed not to know what her surroundings were, she was in kind of a panic,' she said. 'She turned around and looked at me, and her eyes were huge, she had hair in her face, she looked completely disheveled, she looked very confused, absolutely terrified.' Two of the teens' classmates also testified on Tuesday to seeing Fatima in similar distress as her father choked her. Both Ihsan and Zahraa are charged with second-degree attempted murder and attempted kidnapping, along with lesser crimes. They have been behind bars since soon after the attack on bonds of $1 million and $500,000. The trial is expected to continue for the rest of the month.
Fox News
15-07-2025
- Fox News
Video of suspected 'honor killing' plot resurfaces as parents stand trial for attempted murder
The trial for a Washington father and his wife accused of trying to kill their 17-year-old daughter in October 2024 is slated to begin Monday. Ihsan Ali, 44, and his 40-year-old wife, the victim's mother, Zahraa Ali, are charged with second-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted kidnapping, first-degree attempted kidnapping, and second-degree domestic violence assault in Thurston County. Additionally, Ihsan Ali is charged with fourth-degree assault and Zahraa Ali is charged with violation of a domestic violence protective order and second-degree burglary. The parents' alleged Oct. 18, 2024, attack on their own teenage daughter may have been a possible "honor killing" attempt, according to witness accounts detailed in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. The victim told police that her father was "trying to force her to go to another country, which had prompted her to run away earlier in the day." She went to her former public school, Timberline High School in Lacey County, believing she could get help from adults there, and her father, mother and sister allegedly followed her to the school, an affidavit filed on Oct. 24, 2024, states. The 17-year-old girl said a school counselor helped her find a room at "Safe Haven," and her plan was to take a city bus from the school to get there. While waiting for the city bus, the victim's father allegedly approached her and "said she needed to go home," the affidavit states. "He would not take no for an answer and began pulling at her shirt. She said that once she was placed into a choke hold, she was unable to breathe or speak, and then passed out," the affidavit says, adding later that the victim believes she lost consciousness several times while her father allegedly choked her. Video footage of the attack recently obtained by The Daily Mail shows part of the fight unfolding at the public bus stop. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Alis' attorney, Erik Kaeding, for comment. Multiple witness accounts detailed in the affidavit say the victim's father approached and attacked the victim while the victim's 16-year-old boyfriend got between the two and tried to intervene. The victim's father allegedly punched the 16-year-old boy, who in turn began "punching Ishan [Ali] in the head to get him to let go of [the victim]." Witnesses also described seeing the victim's eyes roll back while her father allegedly choked her, according to court documents. The victim's boyfriend's mother later told police that she had been present once for a CPS interview with the 17-year-old victim in which she apparently stated that "her father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another country." The victim's boyfriend told police he believed the 17-year-old victim was "going to die while her father was choking her out on the ground," the affidavit reads. The victim also said she "thought she was going to die" and recalled her mother and sister "trying to grab hold of her" during the incident. READ THE AFFIDAVIT: While the fight was underway, a bystander witness saw Ishan Ali put the girl in a chokehold "and would not let go." He intervened "and was eventually able to get the female to break away and detained Ishan for law enforcement as he was the primary aggressor," court documents read. The boyfriend's father, Victor Barnes, previously told FOX 13 Seattle that he is glad his son "was there to save [the victim's] life" but added that he needs "more explanation about why the adults were so careless." He told the outlet an adult should have escorted the victim to the bus stop rather than his 16-year-old son. "High school for me is a time I'd never forget. It was probably some of the four funniest years of my life, and it's unfortunate he would have to experience something like this in high school," said Barnes. He further told the outlet that he had to file a restraining order against the victim's parents because they kept showing up to his family's home looking for the victim prior to the assault, FOX 13 reported.
