A makeshift memorial appears on display, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, N.C., in remembrance of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, who were killed on Tuesday. Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the case. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Chris Seward)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A long-running parking dispute between neighbors motivated a man to kill a woman, her newlywed husband and her sister at a quiet condominium complex near the University of North Carolina, police said Wednesday.
Beyond the parking arguments, police didn’t comment on the motivation or details of the crime, but a Muslim advocacy organization asked authorities to address speculation — much of it on social media — about possible religious bias. The three victims were Muslim, a friend said.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in Tuesday’s shooting of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, of Chapel Hill; Yusor Mohammad, 21, of Chapel Hill; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh.
Barakat and Mohammad were married, and Abu-Salha was Mohammad’s sister.
Hicks appeared briefly in court Wednesday. He spoke only to answer that he understood the charges and to confirm an indigency affidavit. District Judge Marcia Morey said he would be appointed a public defender and held without bond. She scheduled a probable cause hearing for March 4.
Police said Hicks was cooperating and that their preliminary investigation showed the parking dispute was the motive.
But outrage spread among American Muslims who viewed the homicides as an outgrowth of anti-Muslim opinions. Many posted social media updates with the hashtags #MuslimLivesMatter and #CallItTerrorism.
“Based on the brutal nature of this crime … the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case,” Nihad Awad, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.
In an email, Chapel Hill police Chief Chris Blue said, “We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated, and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case.”
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, enters the courtroom for his first appearance at the Durham County Detention Center on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015 in Durham, N.C. Hicks, 46, is accused of shooting Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, at a quiet condominium complex near the University of North Carolina campus. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Chuck Liddy)
Durham district attorney Roger Echols said he couldn’t discuss a motive. Asked whether Hicks could be charged with a hate crime, he said the case was still under investigation.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in North Carolina that encompasses Chapel Hill didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment about whether federal prosecutors were involved or looking into a possible hate crime.
Gerod King of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said agents were in touch with the U.S. attorney’s office and that investigators hadn’t ruled out a hate crime.
Abdullah Antepli, director of Muslim affairs at nearby Duke University, issued a statement calling for people not to jump to conclusions over motive.
At UNC, Barakat was a second-year dental student. Mohammad was scheduled to begin dental studies in the fall.
Both graduated from North Carolina State University, spokesman Mick Kulikowski said. Barakat graduated with a business administration degree in 2013. Mohammad graduated in December with a biological sciences degree.
Abu-Salha was a sophomore design major who had started classes last fall, Kulikowski said.
Muneeb Mustafa, 23, of Cary, said he attended the same Raleigh mosque as Barakat.
“He was a completely genuine guy. Loving, caring, friendly, smart,” Mustafa said. “He was an ideal human being. He was a role model.”
Mustafa said they last saw each other about a month ago, playing in a basketball tournament staged by the Muslim Student Association at UNC, Mustafa said. Barakat, his wife of less than two months and his sister were Muslim, Mustafa said.
Flowers sit outside the apartment building where three people were killed yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, in Chapel Hill N.C. A long-running parking dispute between neighbors motivated a man to kill a woman, her newlywed husband and her sister at a quiet condominium complex near the University of North Carolina, police said Wednesday. Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in Tuesday’s shooting of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, of Chapel Hill; Yusor Mohammad, 21, of Chapel Hill; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh. (AP Photo/Michael Biesecker)
Barakat’s family was from Syria, and he raised money to help refugees, Mustafa said. Mohammad traveled to Turkey last summer to help treat refugees’ dental problems, Mustafa said.
The neighborhood where the victims were found — about three miles east of campus — consists mostly of apartments and condominiums rentedby students. Residents said they’d never before seen police or had crime problems.
“It’s a very quiet community,” resident Bethany Boring told WRAL-TV. “It’s a lot of graduate and professional students. You know, professional families.”
A small piece of police tape hung near the apartment where the victims were found, but otherwise there was no indication of a crime scene. Outside the shooter’s apartment, a woman’s bicycle with a helmet was parked by the stairs.
Shadi Wehbe, a UNC graduate who has lived in the complex since 1999, said that two weeks ago, a woman came to his door about 10 p.m. and politely asked him to move his car. Some parking spots are assigned, and others are open. Wehbe said parking had never been a problem and no one had asked him to move his car before, but he realized he was in the wrong spot and moved his car one place over.
Neighbor Samantha Maness said suspect Hicks “complained about noise and parking. So I wasn’t extremely surprised” when he was charged.
“Anytime that I saw him or saw interaction with him or friends or anyone in the parking lot or myself, he was angry,” she said. “He was very angry, anytime I saw him.”
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Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Chapel Hill, Jonathan Drew in Durham, Emery Dalesio in Raleigh and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
