The trial for Ihsan and Zahraa Ali of Lacey, Washington began earlier this week. The pair are accused of attempting to honor kill their teenage daughter, Fatima Ali, after she refused to fly to Iraq for an alleged arranged marriage to an older man in October 2024.
The Lacey parents currently face charges of assault, attempted murder, and attempted kidnapping.
Zahraa Ali is also facing charges for burglary and violating a restraining order, according to KOMO News. Her defense reportedly argued that she couldn’t understand the order written in English, which required her to stay away from her daughter’s school and boyfriend.
Both parents were detained shortly after the attack and have been held since on bonds of $1 million and $500,000.
Ali, who at the time was only 17 years old, had approached her former counsellor at Timberline High School after her father allegedly threatened her with honor killing for refusing the arranged marriage, according to court documents cited by American media.
The parents had pulled Ali out of school two weeks prior, the father of the Ali’s boyfriend told the New York Post shortly after the attack. Victor Barnes also claimed that Zahraa Ali attempted to kidnap his son two weeks before the incident - leading to the mother receiving a no-trespass order from the school.
While the school had arranged for her to hide somewhere safe, Barnes claimed they attempted to make her take public transport there without any chaperone to protect her.
The daughter had complained to police that “her father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another county,” according to police documents seen by The New York Post.
Defense attorneys claimed that she had known about the trip to Iraq, which was to arrange for passports for her and her family, not for a forced marriage, according to Court TV, though the Daily Mail reported that she was being sent on a one-way ticket to Najaf.
Testimonies during the trial
Ali addressed the court, telling the jury that she had fled the home in October 2024 with a handful of belongings and $100 after learning of her parents’ plans for her.
While her parents previously withdrew her from her high school, she traveled to her former educational institute the day of the attack. Her parents soon showed up and, after she explained she didn’t want to return home with them, the altercation turned physical, she said in an account which reflects a recording of the incident.
“My dad was choking me,” Fatima said on the stand. “I saw darkness at first.”
The 5ft1 teenager testified that she lost consciousness four times as her father choked her before others were able to intervene and stop the attack.
She explained that she spent two days in the hospital following the attack.
During the testimony, Ali shared that she withheld information that she knew her parents wouldn't like because she was "afraid." This information included dating and educational plans at school.
On the first day of the trial, the jury reviewed viral footage of the altercation and heard testimony from a bus driver who witnessed the assault.
"Obviously, she was in distress, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head, you could tell she was not able to breathe," said bus driver John Denicola. "The look on [Ihsan Ali's] face and the way he was squeezing, he was choking her."
"I noticed the eyes rolling to the back of her head, so I grabbed his hand and I pulled it off, I was able to pull his arms apart, and that’s when she got free," Denicola continued.
"Her face was changing color as she was being choked... she was gonna lose consciousness if it continued... it was very obvious she was being choked," Josh Wagner, 13 13-year US Army veteran who ended the altercation, told the court.