Teresa Joseph

South Florida Muslim Community Pays Tribute to Slain Teen

People gathered at a Muslim school in Sunrise Wednesday evening to pay tribute to a life taken too soon.

Nabra Hassanen, 17, was murdered in Northern Virginia during the holiest time for Muslims -- Ramadan. The teenage girl was brutally beaten as she walked back to her mosque last weekend.

Wilfredo Ruiz, from CAIR FLORIDA, condemns the attack.

"It's very personal because this was a lady in the middle of worshipping acts. She was having an early breakfast we call Saour, she was on the way to pray the first prayer at the mosque. That relates to all of us," said Ruiz.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast under sunlight and it is common to wake up for an early breakfast before sunrise.

The girl was with a group of other teenagers they had just wrapped up breakfast and were on their was to their mosque to pray. It was around 4 a.m. when police say the girl became the target of a road rage incident.

The girl's family and many in the Muslim community believe she was targeted because of her religion. However, police are not investigating it as a hate crime.

Darwin Martinez Torres, 22, was arrested in connection to the attack. Detectives said he got into it with the group and then got out of his vehicle to attack the teen. Hassanen was beaten with a bat before Torres allegedly drove off with her and dumped her body in a pond, according to police.

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