Two M*slim migrants from Iraq are on trial for attacking their teen daughter in an attempted honor k*lling in Washington
The trial of Ihsan and Zahraa Ali, Iraqi immigrant parents , is happening in Thurston County where the couple’s 17-year-old daughter, Fatima, testified that she was “heartbroken” by her father’s actions and feared for her life during the attack, describing how he choked her until she lost consciousness at a school bus stop.
She said her parents had threatened her with an “honor k*lling” for refusing an arranged marriage to an older man in Iraq.
However, the judge is not allowing the term ‘arranged marriage’ to be used in court because it might ‘prejudice’ the jury.
Prosecutors showed video of the father strangling the teen while repeating, “It’s not right … you are not supposed to be like this,” with the mother allegedly urging him on.
Defense attorneys argue the incident was a family dispute escalated by cultural misunderstandings, not an attempted m*rder.
Both parents face charges of second-degree attempted m*rder, first-degree assault, and first-degree attempted kidnapping, stemming from the October 8, 2024, incident outside Timberline High School.
The girls parents confronted their daughter at a bus stop after she ran away from home and asked for help from school counselors.
That’s when, according to court documents, the father grabbed her in a chokehold, causing her eyes to roll back as she went limp. Fellow students fought the father off and called 911.
When police got there the teen was unconscious but breathing; she was revived and taken to a hospital.
The parents were arrested on-site and have been held on $500,000 bail each since November 2024.
If convicted, they could face life sentences.
The family, originally from Iraq, had lived in the U.S. for several years.
