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A Washington couple accused of attempting an ‘honor killing’ by trying to strangle their teenage daughter 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.
Ihsan Ali has been found not guilty of attempted murder but has been convicted of assault and unlawful imprisonment. He will be sentenced later this month
Zahraa Ali has been found not guilty of attempted murder and ordered to have no contact with her daughter
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.
Ihsan punched his daughter’s boyfriend square in the face at the start of the attack, sending him staggering back out of the frame and falling down hard on nearby concrete
Isiah demonstrated with his arms how Ihsan put Fatima in a ‘headlock’ on the ground and choked her even after she lost consciousness
Zahraa Ali is seen in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia, Washington last month
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.
Ihsan (right) speaks with his lawyer Erik Kaeding in court last month
Prosecutors Heather Stone and Olivia Zhou (pictured outside court) face an uphill battle to get convictions for attempted murder
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.’
These are some of the cuts, welts, and broken bones the teenage girl suffered when her parents allegedly tried to strangle her in an ‘honor killing’
Ihsan in police bodycam footage sitting a patrol car. His jacket was torn in the struggle and dirt pressed into one side of his face during the attack
It appeared Zahraa had started her attack as the girl seemed to be back on the ground where witnesses alleged she also tried to kill her
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.
Fatima herself has not spoken publicly since the verdict.
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