Man accused in Mich. killing competent for trial

Minnesota man accused of fatally shooting stepdaughter in Michigan deemed competent for trial

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Published On: Jan 06 2012 09:28:48 AM EST
Handcuffs, Police Lights Graphic
WARREN, Mich. -

A Minnesota man who police say fatally shot his 20-year-old stepdaughter in Michigan has been deemed competent to stand trial.

Forty-six-year-old Rahim Alfetlawi made an appearance Thursday in a Warren courtroom. He is charged with first-degree murder in the April 30 death of Jessica Mokdad at her grandmother's home in the Detroit suburb of Warren. He's due in court again Feb. 27.

Authorities previously said Alfetlawi was angry because Mokdad left home and wasn't following Islam. The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reports prosecutors now say religion wasn't an issue and Mokdad's biological father was targeted.

The Coon Rapids man has said he suffers mental issues stemming from "humiliation and torture" in Iraq in the 1990s under Saddam Hussein's regime.

The defense has said the shooting was an accident.

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