Was a deadly stabbing at this Tri-Cities Dollar Tree, murder or self-defense?
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- Jury will decide whether Abdullah A. Hussein’s Feb. 2 stabbing was murder or self-defense.
- Prosecutors say Hussein decided to pick the fight that led to Al Juboori's stabbing.
- Defense argues Al Juboori started the fight and attacked Hussein.
A jury will decide whether a deadly confrontation between former classmates on a cold night outside the Dollar Tree in Kennewick was murder or self-defense.
During opening statements Friday, jurors in the second-degree murder trial of Abdullah A. Hussein, 28, were given two versions of what happened on Feb. 2.
Hussein is accused of stabbing his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend Ali Al Juboori, four times during a fight. But Hussein has argued he was defending his girlfriend from a man who previously stalked and attacked her.
Al Juboori, 26, had a history of domestic violence involving his former girlfriend, Adriana Farrell, said Deputy Prosecutor Chelsea Parker. But that was well in the past, and they had both moved on.
But when Hussein, his girlfriend and their 4-year-old daughter crossed paths with Al Juboori at the Kennewick store, Parker argued Hussein decided to pick a fight that led to the stabbing.
Defense attorney Joe Faurholt argued that’s not what happened. Witnesses said Al Juboori started the fight, he said, and Hussein had the right to defend himself, his girlfriend and their daughter.
“There are things that are worth defending. There are things that you have the right to defend,” he said. “... My client Abdullah Hussein, who goes by Abe, is worth defending. Self-defense is worth defending.”
Fatal Confrontation
Prosecutors said Al Juboori was his mother’s primary caregiver and was helping her with errands that day when they stopped at the Dollar Tree to pick up cat food.
Al Juboori parked and went inside. About a minute later, Hussein pulled up with his girlfriend and their daughter.
As the family walked into the store, Al Juboori was walking out.
“There are no signs of recognition, no interaction, no conversation,” Parker said. “They pass and go their separate ways.”
About 10 minutes later, Al Juboori’s mother called him to say she was ready to leave the store. He returned to the car and was pacing in front of it, waiting for her when Hussein and Farrell returned to their car.
As Farrell was buckling their daughter, she reportedly told him she didn’t feel safe. That’s when Hussein put himself between Al Juboori and his girlfriend and told him to, “Get the f--k away from our car,’ Parker said.
“Ali doesn’t respond. Adriana claims that Ali lunged at (Hussein). There was a physical fight between the two. Based on witness testimony and surveillance footage that lasted for about five seconds before Ali is seen ... running away from (Hussein) holding his chest.”
Several witnesses called 911 after he collapsed, but he died later at the scene.
Hussein admitted to police that he stabbed Al Juboori, noting he left the knife on the trunk of his car.
She said Al Juboori had a folding pocket knife in his pocket, but he never took it out and didn’t threaten Hussein with it.
Defending his family
Faurholt told jurors his client didn’t walk out of the store looking for a fight. They’d bought some balloons and were walking to their car. He showed a picture of Hussein holding his daughter while his girlfriend walked next to him.
“This is my client seconds before he is attacked by the (Al Juboori). Does he look like he’s ready for a fight? Do you think that he wants a fight?” Faurholt asked.
“If he was expecting a fight, he would put down his 4-year-old child. He would tell the two of them to go over there, to call her mom, to get out of here. ... He’s not only going with his arms down. He’s going with a 4-year-old in his hands.”
He claimed Hussein wanted to go home, but he didn’t have the chance because Al Juboori attacked him. Faurholt noted Al Juboori was waiting in front of the car for 15 minutes in 35-degree temperatures.
He promised to delivery testimony showing that Hussein was punched before the stabbing happened.
“See my client can’t leave. My client has things worth defending. My client can’t leave his 4-year-old. My client won’t leave his partner who had been abused by this person for years prior. He has things worth defending. He can’t leave.”