Man accused of fatally shooting 2 teen daughters inside taxi claims he fled car before they were killed

A person accused of fatally shooting his two teenage daughters in a taxi within the Dallas space in 2008 informed jurors in his capital homicide trial on Monday that he fled the car before they were killed as a result of he thought somebody needed to kill him. A member of the family has stated the slayings were “honor killings” carried out by the teenagers’ father Yaser Said.

“Definitely not, I did not kill my daughters,” stated Said, whose testimony in Arabic was translated to English.

Said evaded arrest for over 12 years following the slayings of his daughters, 18-year-old Amina Said and 17-year-old Sarah Said. Yaser Said, who faces an computerized life sentence if convicted, stated he didn’t flip himself in as a result of he did not suppose he would get a good trial.

The prosecution and protection each rested their circumstances Monday afternoon. Jurors are set to listen to closing arguments Tuesday morning.

Said, 65, labored as a taxi driver, and a former police detective has testified that the taxi the sisters’ our bodies were present in on New Year’s Day in 2008 close to a lodge in had been lent to Said.

Sarah Said was shot 9 instances and Amina Said was shot twice.

In a letter written to the choose overseeing the case, Said had stated he was not completely happy together with his youngsters’ “dating activity” however denied killing his daughters.

Said informed jurors that the night the sisters’ were killed, he was taking them to dinner as a result of he needed to “solve the problem” after they had left residence per week earlier, going to Oklahoma with their mom and their boyfriends.

“I was upset because in my culture it’s something to get upset about,” stated Said, who testified that he was born in Egypt, got here to the U.S. in 1983 and later turned a U.S. citizen.

Gail Gattrell, the sisters’ great-aunt, has known as the deaths an “honor killing,”  during which a girl is murdered by a relative to guard her household’s honor.

Prosecutor Lauren Black stated throughout opening statements that the sisters had turn into “very scared for their lives,” and the choice to depart was made after Said “put a gun to Amina’s head and threatened to kill her.” Black informed jurors that Said was “obsessed with possession and control.”

Said’s former spouse, Patricia Owens, has testified that Said finally had satisfied her to return to Texas from Oklahoma.

Said testified that as he was driving to dinner together with his daughters on the night they were killed, he thought somebody was following the taxi. He stated he didn’t know who it is likely to be however assumed it is likely to be associates of his daughters. He testified that he was fearful somebody would hurt him, so he left his daughters within the taxi and bumped into close by woods.

“I did not expect anyone would harm them,” Said testified.

Jurors heard a 911 name Sarah Said made by mobile phone, telling the operator that her father shot her and that she was dying.

“Help,” Sarah was heard saying on the 911 name. “I’m dying. Oh my God. Stop it.”

Defense legal professional Joseph Patton stated in opening statements that the proof wouldn’t help a conviction and that police were too fast to concentrate on Said. He additionally stated that in moments of excessive trauma, like being shot a number of instances, folks can have hallucinations.

Amina Said’s boyfriend has testified that the night she and her sister were killed, he and his father noticed them driving within the taxi with their father.

Yaser Said, who had been sought on a capital homicide warrant for the reason that slayings, was positioned on the FBI’s most-wanted record. He was lastly arrested in August 2020 in Justin, about 35 miles northwest of Dallas. His son, Islam Said, and his brother, Yassim Said, were subsequently convicted of serving to him evade arrest.