Police say Muslim girl's killing near Virginia mosque not hate crime

But in two subsequent tweets posted on Monday, the Fairfax County Police Department insisted that Hassanen's murder was connected to road rage, not a hate crime, although the brutality of the attack and public details of the incident make a good case for it being classified as such.

Nabra Hassanen died after Darwin Martinez Torres, 22, beat her and then dumped the 17-year-old girl's body in a pond, police said.

Nabra Hassanen was walking home from a McDonald's with a group of friends after having attended night prayers at a local mosque in Sterling, Virginia, when police say they got into a dispute with a man driving a vehicle, prompting the group to flee. Her body was found about 11 hours later in a nearby man-made pond, and Torres was charged with murder, the police said in a statement.

Martinez Torres of Sterling was arraigned Monday in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and ordered held without bail pending a July 19 court appearance. Torres has been charged with one count of second-degree murder. Investigators haven't named the victim, but family and friends identified her as 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen. "It appears the suspect became so enraged over this traffic argument that it escalated into deadly violence", Fairfax County police spokesperson Julie Parker said.

"I was definitely very anxious about having them be outside of the mosque unattended", said Mahmood.

The lack of a hate crime investigation provoked deep skepticism among some American Muslims.

Here in the Shenandoah Valley, a mother of three, Sabeen Mahmood, was left shaken and anxious for her own children at the Islamic Center of the Shenandoah Valley.

The teens had been participating in an overnight activity at a religious center, according to police, but they did not identify the center by name. A bat was later discovered near the scene.

Fairfax County police spokesman Don Gotthardt told NPR that Hassaen's murder is not now being investigated as a hate crime.

"We are devastated and heartbroken as our community undergoes and processes this traumatic event", the center said in a statement.

The girl's mother Sawsan Gazzar was among those who gathered Sunday to pray for the girl, according to The Washington Post.

"I just can't think of a worse instance to occur with the loss of a 17-year-old on Father's Day", Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman, said at a news conference, the Washington Post reported.

"The murder of Virginia teen #Nabra Hassanen is most likely the outcome of a "#Road Rage" rather than a hate crime.

Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights lawyer, told the newspaper the attack had sent fear through the Muslim community in northern Virginia: "People are petrified, especially people who have young Muslim daughters".