Police say after the murders, Morel was driving a black SUV that hit a cyclist about three miles away. Many locals wondered what could have prompted his killing.
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First-degree murder has such a stiff maximum sentence that designating the slayings as a hate crime might not have a practical effect on sentencing on all counts, officials said.
Passions ran hot at a funeral service for a slain imam and his friend who were shot by an unidentified gunman near their mosque.
Morel, who came to court in handcuffs and shackles, did not submit a plea and will return on Thursday when a homicide lawyer will be assigned to his case. The country’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Shahriar Alam, called the shooting a “cowardly act on peace-loving people”.
No motive in the killings has been determined, according to Boyce.
Akonjee and Uddin were walking home from an afternoon prayer service when they were ambushed.
Thousands gather to pray at caskets of Imam Maulama Akonjee, draped in green top, and Thara Uddin in a municipal parking lot, Monday Aug. 15, 2016, in NY.
“He always wants peace”, Akonjee’s son, Naim Akonjee, 21, said of his father through tears. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has an attorney who can comment on the charges.
The police investigated the license plate number, tracked the Trailblazer to Miller Avenue in Brooklyn and began surveillance of the vehicle.
Police gave no details about a possible motive for the shooting.
At a news conference, the Times writes, Boyce says investigators don’t know the motivation for the attack, “adding that it was “certainly on the table that it’s a hate crime”.
They were killed near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Ozone Park Saturday afternoon.
The suspect, Oscar Morel, was awaiting a court appearance Tuesday on first- and second-degree murder charges.
A NY man has been charged with the double murder of a Imam and his friend, in a brutal daylight slaying that has shocked Muslim communities across the US.
When police closed in, Mr. Mosel rammed a police vehicle in an attempt to flee, Chief Boyce said.
It’s unclear if Morel has an attorney.
Community members march in protest in the streets after funeral prayers were given for Imam Maulama Akonjee and friend Thara Uddin August 15, 2016 in NY.
A suspect in police custody has been charged in the killings of a Muslim imam and his associate in New York City over the weekend.
The funeral for Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin is being held in a municipal parking lot, about six blocks from the crime scene.
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In this video image provided by WABC-TV, New York police officers walk with Oscar Morel, center, of Brooklyn, in New York on Monday, Aug. 16, 2016.
