Iraqi immigrant near San Diego dies from beating
EL CAJON, CA — An Iraqi immigrant has died of injuries suffered when she was attacked inside her Southern California home in what police suspect could be a hate crime.
Shaima Alawadi, 32, of El Cajon, was taken off life support Saturday at a hospital where she had been since Wednesday when she was found severely beaten inside her home.
A threatening note was found near the victim, which family members said referred to the family as “terrorists” and demanded they go back to Iraq. CNN said police had yet to rule the attack to be a hate crime.
“Although we are exploring all aspects of this investigation, evidence thus far leads us to believe this is an isolated incident,” El Cajon Police Lt. Mark Coit said in a written statement.
Family members told reporters, however, the victim had found a similar threatening note outside their home earlier this month.
“A week ago they left a letter saying, ‘This is our country, not yours, you terrorists,’” the victim’s daughter, Fatima Al Himidi, told KGTV-TV in San Diego. “So my mom ignored that, thinking (it was) kids playing around. And so the day they hurt her, they left it again and it said the same thing.”
Alawadi left behind a husband and three children. Neighbors said the family had moved to the United States in the 1990s, but it was not clear when they settled in El Cajon, which has a large Iraqi immigrant community.
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10:16a.m.