Hundreds gathered at the Dupont Circle fountain on Tuesday evening to mourn the death of Nabra Hassanen, the 17-year-old kidnapped and brutally murdered near her Virginia mosque earlier this week.
After heavy patrol and canvassing all Sunday by the Fairfax police and Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Hasssanen's dead body was found in a pond in the 21500 block of Ridegtop Circle around 3 p.m.
"The Chief assured them we will continue to diligently investigate the case and provide our support", according to a police statement.
According to local reporters, a road rage incident turned deadly after 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres became enraged during an argument with one of the teens in the group who was on a bicycle. On Monday, police said that "the autopsy results show Nabra suffered from blunt force trauma to the upper body".
Asked whether detectives believe Hassanen was sexually assaulted before her death - as some news reports have speculated - Wright said that possibility would be included in the all-encompassing investigation.
"It's very premature", Morrogh said.
He does not, however, face hate crime charges. One of the teenagers riding a bicycle in the almost 15-person group got into an argument with Torres, who was driving at the time.
A large gathering commemorating Hassanen had assembled at DuPont, as well as at several other major cities, to commemorate her murder at the hands of 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres.
A community vigil for Hassanen has also been planned by the teen's friends and classmates on Wednesday night in Reston, where she was from. Police believe one teen on a bike began arguing with Martinez Torres as he approached the group in his vehicle. Martinez-Torres was appointed a public defender and spoke through a Spanish translator when answering questions put to him by a judge in county jail. The young graphic artist says Hassanen's slaying hit close to home. "An angel was taken". Nabra's death means that all of us now have a diminished sense of safety; we all grieve with Nabra's parents, who lost their lovely and beloved daughter during Ramadan, on Father's Day.
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The case continued to strike a chord well beyond Virginia on Tuesday.
Rania Salem, 21, of Arlington was one of the first to arrive.
"She was such a lovely young lady", family friend Moheamed Mukhtar said.
"It could have been any of us - we all go to the mosque during Ramadan for prayer".
By Tuesday, almost 11,000 people had pledged contributions of more than $290,000 to a fund for Nabra's family. Officials say the crime was motivated by road rage, not religious hatred.
"We know this is an incredibly hard time, especially for our Muslim community", FCPD said in the release.
The mosque in Sterling is where Hassanen and her friends were returning around 4 a.m. Sunday after going to eat at a nearby McDonald's before their Ramadan fast that would begin at dawn.
The Associated Press reported that Fairfax County police spokeswoman Julie Parker said at a news conference Monday that "Nothing indicates that (Hassanen's death) was motivated by race or by religion".
CAIR today said it is representing Hassanen's family and has "called for a thorough investigation of a possible bias motive in the case". But most differ on what acts qualify, and some leave it to judges to decide whether to impose stiffer penalties at the time of sentencing.
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