--- description: A 17-year-old Muslim girl was assaulted and killed in Virginia on Sunday as she made her way home from prayers at a Mosque title: Muslim Teenager Killed in Virginia in Possible Hate Crime image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c3fc64bcd40e67e/6988d23b4ee26296a830dc7c/gettyimages-672086400.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A 17-Year-Old Muslim Girl Was Murdered While Walking Home From Her Mosque in Virginia by [Ryan Kilpatrick](/author/ryan-kilpatrick/) ## Ryan Kilpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:44 AM CUTPublished: Jun 19, 2017 10:05 AM CUT  Muslims celebrate Lailat al Miraj at the Diyanet Center of America in Lanham, Md., United States on April 23, 2017. Muslims celebrate Lailat al Miraj at the Diyanet Center of America in Lanham, Md., United States on April 23, 2017.Samuel Corum—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Ryan Kilpatrick](/author/ryan-kilpatrick/) ## Ryan Kilpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:44 AM CUTPublished: Jun 19, 2017 10:05 AM CUT A 17-year-old Muslim girl was assaulted and killed as she made her way home after prayers at a Virginia Mosque. The _Washington Post_ [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-loudoun-police-searching-for-missing-17-year-old-reported-to-have-been-assaulted/2017/06/18/02e379ac-5466-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.fd97452d4f94 "undefined") that the body of Nabra Hassanen was identified by relatives after being discovered in pond in Sterling, northern Virginia. Fairfax county police have charged 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres with her murder. The _Post_ reports that authorities are not investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. A police statement [cited](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/19/muslim-girl-17-killed-on-way-home-from-virginia-mosque "undefined") by the _Guardian_ said an investigation [concluded ](https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/man-charged-with-assaulting-and-killing-a-17-year-old-girl/ "undefined")that Hassanen “was walking outside \[the mosque\] with a group of friends when they got into a dispute with a man in a car.” The man then “got out of his car and assaulted the victim.” Her friends, unable to find her after the incident, called the police. An officer had “seen a car driving suspiciously in the area,” and the driver, Martinez Torres, was taken into custody as a suspect, according to the police statement. “People are petrified, especially people who have young Muslim daughters,”Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights lawyer who attended the same Sunday evening service as Hassanen, told the _Post_. \[[_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-loudoun-police-searching-for-missing-17-year-old-reported-to-have-been-assaulted/2017/06/18/02e379ac-5466-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.fd97452d4f94 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4823269/muslim-virginia-killed-mosque/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4823269/muslim-virginia-killed-mosque/"},"headline":"A 17-Year-Old Muslim Girl Was Murdered While Walking Home From Her Mosque in Virginia","datePublished":"2017-06-19T10:05:31.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T06:44:23.000Z","description":"The 17-year-old girl was walking home from her mosque after prayers","url":"https://time.com/4823269/muslim-virginia-killed-mosque/","keywords":["Crime","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c3fc64bcd40e67e/6988d23b4ee26296a830dc7c/gettyimages-672086400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Kilpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-kilpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c3fc64bcd40e67e/6988d23b4ee26296a830dc7c/gettyimages-672086400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lailat al Miraj in Washington","caption":"Lailat al Miraj in Washington","creditText":"Samuel Corum—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4823269/muslim-virginia-killed-mosque/","name":"A 17-Year-Old Muslim Girl Was Murdered While Walking Home From Her Mosque in Virginia"}}]}] ```