Mother Of Elijah Al-Amin Says ‘There’s No Excuse For This’
The Arizona mom of the 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to dying by a white man for listening to rap music in his automobile is talking out in opposition to the suspect.
Final week, Elijah Al-Amin was listening to rap within the parking zone of a Circle Okay gasoline station earlier than coming into the comfort retailer. 27-year-old Michael Adams walked as much as her son, 17-year-old Elijah Al-Amin, as he stood on the soda machine inside a Circle Okay. Then police say Adams slit the teenager’s throat from behind.
Peoria Police say Adams admitted to stabbing the teenager as a result of he felt “threatened” by the music he was enjoying.
Adams’ lawyer says he suffers from psychological sickness and was not taking any remedy when he was not too long ago launched from jail.
Nevertheless, Serina Rides, Al-Amin’s mom, believes the psychological sickness protection is simply an excuse for a hate crime.
“There isn’t any excuse for this,” Rides informed FOX10 Phoenix. “There’s under no circumstances, there isn’t any excuse. I do not care that someone’s hiding behind psychological sickness, there isn’t any excuse.”
The Arizona Division of Corrections says officers by no means designated Adams as mentally unwell. His felony file reveals he attacked two folks prior to now with lethal weapons. Whereas he was in jail, he additionally assaulted a correctional officer.
On Monday, July 9, family and friends of Al-Amin prayed for the teenager on the Islamic Group Middle in Tempe earlier than a burial ceremony in Maricopa County.
Exterior the Circle Okay retailer the place Al-Amin was stabbed, neighborhood members created a memorial for the teenager with white porcelain angels, contemporary flowers and burning candles of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Catholic patron saint of Mexico.
Based on Rides, the 17-year-old sufferer was going to show 18 in two weeks and was wanting ahead to his senior yr in highschool. Rides additionally mentioned Al-Amin labored at Subway and Taco Bell to avoid wasting up for his personal automobile.
“My final phrases to him was, ‘Elijah, I like you,’ [and] he mentioned, ‘I like you too, mother,'” Rides mentioned. “These have been his final phrases to me and I am at peace with that.”
Now, Rides continues to be coping with the painful actuality of life with out her son.
“I am so numb and damage to the core of my soul,” Rides mentioned. “However I’ve to remain targeted as a result of I do know that is what he would need and to verify justice is served for him.”
The Maricopa County Lawyer’s Workplace charged Adams with first-degree homicide, which, in Arizona, carries a sentence of life behind bars or dying.
Adams is subsequent scheduled to seem in courtroom on July 15.
