‘Honor killings’ a false narrative in Lewisville teens’ deaths, Muslim community says After Amina and Sarah Said were found shot to death in 2008, many people were quick to blame their father’s Islamic faith.

August 30, 2020 and   

(Dallas Morning News) Alia Salem remembers how horrific the killings were, and the photos and videos on the TV news of the two Lewisville girls who died.

She also remembers how Muslims in North Texas worked to fight rumors and Islamophobic stereotypes, to distance their community from the man suspected of killing his daughters.

“There was a palpable sense of trying to disown him — to say, ‘This guy is not part of our community. This is not indicative of the Muslim community,’” Salem said.

Amina Said, 18, and Sarah Said, 17, were found shot to death in their father’s taxi in Irving on New Year’s Day 2008. Their father, Yaser Said, had vanished.

After 12 years on the run, including narrowly eluding FBI agents in 2017, Said was arrested Wednesday in Justin.

(Text updated)

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