An Iraqi immigrant accused of slaying his own daughter for becoming “too Westernized” will be arraigned in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday morning.
Prosecutors say Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, of Glendale, conducted an “honor killing” on his own daughter because he felt she had shamed the family by not following traditional Iraqi or Muslim values.
The elder Almaleki is accused of using his Jeep Grand Cherokee to run down his daughter and another woman in a parking lot outside a state agency’s office in Peoria.
His daughter, 20-year-old Noor Faleh Almaleki, died Monday of injuries sustained during the Oct. 20 attack.
At Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors are expected to roll out a new, harsher set of charges for Almaleki, who is currently in a county jail on two counts of aggravated assault.
Mike Tellef, a spokesman for Peoria police, said detectives and county prosecutors are meeting to determine what the new charges will be.
Police said Almaleki, an out-of-work truck driver, had been furious with his daughter for becoming too Westernized. Noor Almaleki had reportedly married a man in Iraq but returned to Arizona to live with her boyfriend and his mother in Surprise, according to family members and friends.
The other victim, Amal Edan Khalaf, 43, is the boyfriend’s mother, police said.
The elder Almaleki fled the country the day of the attack, driving to Mexico and eventually catching a plane to London, investigators said. He was detained by British authorities and extradited to Atlanta last week.
Stephanie Low, a county prosecutor assigned to the case, said Almaleki has admitted purposefully running down his daughter.
“The defendant tries to hide behind his moral convictions, and yet he also fled,” Low said.
Social experts say honor killings are an accepted practice in Iraqi tribal society, where family members believe they must kill a woman who has dishonored them by not living by traditional values.