In Bangladesh, the imam’s eldest son Fayez Uddin Akonjee, 28, said he was relieved at the charges.
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The 35-year-old Morel has been charged with murder.
Morel did not enter a plea.
Morel was taken into custody after a Chevy truck similar to his was caught on camera fleeing the scene and, 10 minutes later, was involved in a hit-and-run with a bicycle a few miles away from the place of the shooting.
Authorities called the Saturday afternoon shooting an “assassination”. Prosecutors say the attack is being viewed as a possible hate crime.
The man accused of fatally shooting an imam and his friend as they left a New York City mosque is being held without bail.
New School porter Oscar Morel was arraigned for murder and other charges in the killing of an Ozone Park imam and his assistant.
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.
Several police officers were stationed outside the mosque on Sunday as worshippers remembered the victims and remarked on their devotion to their families and faith.
‘It’s the most horrendous and despicable act that can only be described as a cold-blooded and premeditated assassination, ‘ prosecutor Peter McCormack told the court as relatives of the victims looked on.
No motive in the killings has been determined, Boyce said. “People, they just hate us”.
Akonjee and Uddin were walking home from an afternoon prayer service when they were ambushed.
Passions ran hot at a funeral service for a slain imam and his friend who were shot by an unidentified gunman near their mosque.
Meanwhile, huge crowds lined the streets earlier on Monday as the bodies of Akonjee and Uddin were carried aloft during a procession.
Akonjee’s son, Foyez Uddin, who isn’t related to the other victim, tells The Associated Press in Bangladesh that his father and mother had booked flights for August 31 to visit the elder man’s mother. “I believe that”, Uddin’s brother, Mashuk, said outside court on Tuesday.
Police have not identified a motive for the shooting.
Both men were wearing traditional religious attire, and Akonjee was carrying about $1,000 in cash that was not taken. There was no immediate information on an attorney who could comment on his behalf. Detectives spent Monday questioning him at the 107th Precinct in Flushing and putting him a lineup for witnesses to the shootings.
It’s unclear if Morel has an attorney.
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A New York City man charged with second-degree murder is set to appeat before a United States court on Tuesday after the deaths of a Muslim imam and his assistant. A auto bearing the same description was tracked down to Brooklyn, leading the police to Morel.
