A Foul Murder in Tulsa

[Dale00]

Prayers are needed for the family of the victim and reflection on how terrible it is when a person is consumed by hate. May love find a way to prevent future evils of this kind.

Jabara Family Statement on the Murder of Khalid Jabara
August 15, 2016

On Friday night, our world was shattered when our brother, Khalid Jabara, was murdered on the front porch of our family home. The perpetrator was not unknown to us—he is our neighbor—someone whom we continuously brought to law enforcement’s attention. He killed our brother while awaiting trial for running over our mother, resulting in a broken shoulder, collapsed lung, broken ankle, broken nose, head trauma, and fractured ribs amongst other injuries. Only 30 minutes prior to my brother’s shooting, Khalid called the police stating this man had a gun and that he was scared for what might happen. The police came and told him there was nothing to be done. Minutes later, the suspect murdered our brother with four shots.

My family lived in fear of this man and his hatred for years. Yet in May, not even one year after he ran over our mother and despite our repeated protests, he was released from jail with no conditions on his bond—no ankle monitor, no drug/alcohol testing, nothing.

This suspect had a history of bigotry against our family. He repeatedly attacked our ethnicity and perceived religion, making racist comments. He often called us “dirty Arabs,” “filthy Lebanese,” “Aye-rabs,” and “Mooslems”—a fact highlighted by the Tulsa Police Department who also heard these comments from the suspect. The suspect’s bigotry was not isolated to us alone. He made xenophobic comments about many in our community -- “filthy Mexican” and the “n” word were all part of his hateful approach to anyone from a different background.

Today, in our pain, we are also keenly aware that this is not just another murder to be added to crime statistics. Our brother’s death could have been prevented. This man was a known danger. He intentionally tried to kill our mother less than one year ago when he ran her over with his car. Based on his racist comments towards us, he should have been charged with a hate crime then. He should not have been released without monitoring. Yet he was released and put back next door to us, the family he assaulted just months before. This is troubling at any time, but profoundly disturbing given the current climate of our country and the increase nationally in cases of hate crimes.

Our brother Khalid was just 37 years old and had his whole life ahead of him. He was a kind spirit, loving brother, uncle and son. Khalid’s heart was big. He cared for our entire family, our friends and people he didn’t even know. He created every Jabara family joke and filled our lives with love and laughter. All of that has been taken away from us by this hateful man and a system that failed to protect our community.

Press inquiries for the Jabara family may be sent to:
Rebecca Abou-Chedid
202-256-4096
[email protected]

 

[JD8]

Social media is all over this, pretty much talking about how racist Okies/conservatives are etc etc..... the douche recently moved here from San Bernardino California.

 

[Glocktogo]

Prayers for his family.

I hate to say this, but you couldn't ask for a more perfect example of where a gun in the hands of the good guy might've made all the difference in the world. They knew he was a serious threat, the police did nothing and neither did the courts. You cannot place your faith in the authorities to protect you. As much as they might like to, they're not required to by law and often have their hands tied.

Social media is all over this, pretty much talking about how racist Okies/conservatives are etc etc..... the douche recently moved here from San Bernardino California.

And he's married to another man. I don't think he did that in Oklahoma and I don't think he's a conservative!

 

[YukonGlocker]

 

[BryanDP]

I just can't fathom someone being so consumed with hate over the mere presence of someone of a different race or nationality. Not that it would any way justify murder, but surely there is more to this story than just a white guy hating his Arab neighbor. Or is there? Who knows.

I've definitely seen what I perceive as police indifference to situations that concern me, but I know that in many ways their hands are tied. In the last 10 years I have learned how to get service from the police if I need it. I've also come to the realization that nobody other than me is really responsible for my personal security other than me.

It's a sad situation, for sure.

 

[Dale00]

I just can't fathom someone being so consumed with hate over the mere presence of someone of a different race or nationality. Not that it would any way justify murder, but surely there is more to this story than just a white guy hating his Arab neighbor. Or is there? Who knows.

I've definitely seen what I perceive as police indifference to situations that concern me, but I know that in many ways their hands are tied. In the last 10 years I have learned how to get service from the police if I need it. I've also come to the realization that nobody other than me is really responsible for my personal security other than me.

It's a sad situation, for sure.

I hear you, Bryan. It is certainly less disconcerting to think that perhaps the victim or the victim's family might have had some sort of contributing fault in this but I can find nothing to indicate this. Read the articles in the Tulsa World. Everything points toward the victim and his family as being upstanding people. The murderer appears to be a mentally unbalanced racist against whom the justice system provided no protection.

 

[tRidiot]

The murderer appears to be a mentally unbalanced racist against which there is no law.

Clarified that for you above.

The question is, should he have been punished more severely for the previous violent act? I don't know the answer to that question, I don't know that situation.

 

[Poke78]

Clarified that for you above.

The question is, should he have been punished more severely for the previous violent act? I don't know the answer to that question, I don't know that situation.

It hadn't even arrived at the punishment phase. He was jailed pending trial with a significant bonding requirement that was reduced by a clueless Tulsa County judge so the guy made the bail and returned to living next door to his victim. They already had a restraining order in place but paper doesn't stop bullets. As already mentioned, the victim chose not to use the best tool available.

 

[tRidiot]

Agreed on the last point. As I said, I'm not familiar with the previous incident, it sounded like the guy had served time for the auto/ped incident. I assumed that was a sentence, not just being held over for trial. Sucks when someone can just go right back to the same place and be free to repeat/escalate the violence.

Another reason to be armed if you are a standup, responsible citizen. Can't depend on the police or "the system" to protect you. Damn.

 

[Glocktogo]

It hadn't even arrived at the punishment phase. He was jailed pending trial with a significant bonding requirement that was reduced by a clueless Tulsa County judge so the guy made the bail and returned to living next door to his victim. They already had a restraining order in place but paper doesn't stop bullets. As already mentioned, the victim chose not to use the best tool available.

I have to say that I don't have a lot of faith in a lot of the Tulsa county judges. Some of them are good and some of them... well...

As for the murderer, I'll go out on a limb and say he's potentially a byproduct of our broken mental health system. From all accounts, he appears to be bat guano crazy.

Heavy.com has a lot of facts that aren't being reported by a lot of national news outlets, such as him being a homosexual from California, the victim being Christian, not Muslim and how badly he injured Kahlid's mother last year (broken shoulder and ankle as well as head trauma and collapsed lung). That's not a casual tap with his car. Considering all the statements he made and the violent nature of his attack, I don't think he should've been out walking around.

http://heavy.com/news/2016/08/khali...-suspect-vernon-majors-funeral-facebook-page/