Hearing Set For Man Charged In Muslim Girl's Death

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A pretrial hearing is scheduled for a northern Virginia man charged in the slaying of a 17-year-old Muslim girl as she walked to a mosque with friends.

Darwin Martinez Torres of Sterling is charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled for a hearing Friday afternoon in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

The victim, Nabra Hassanen, was out late with a group of friends and was walking back to a mosque for pre-dawn Ramadan services. Police say Hassanen was bludgeoned with a baseball bat.

Although the circumstances of the girl's death led many to speculate about a possible hate crime, police have said the slaying is a case of road rage that began when the 22-year-old Martinez Torres was driving and encountered Hassanen's friends walking in the street.

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