Sister of Muslim man shot to death after religious insults: 'It was a hate crime'

Dustin Passarelli called the Islamic prophet Muhammad a pedophile before he shot a Muslim man to death on the west side, according to court documents.

"It was a hate crime," said Zahra Ayoubi, sister of Mustafa Ayoubi, who was shot to death on Indianapolis' west side on Feb. 16. She called for her brother's death to be investigated as a hate crime and for Indiana to pass its own hate crime law.

Zahra Ayoubi spoke Friday in a hallway outside Marion Superior Court, shortly before the man accused of shooting her brother appeared for an initial hearing. Passarelli, 33, was charged with murder Thursday.

Indiana doesn't have a hate crime law. Ayoubi said that should change.

"Hopefully we can see something and see that our lawmakers and our community is supportive of all the people who live in this community and not just the majority or a certain type of race," Ayoubi said.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said the case shows Indiana needs a comprehensive hate crimes law.

“We have said on many occasions, too many occasions in fact, that hate and crimes motivated by hate are real," Curry said in a statement. "Some in the legislature wish to push the dialogue into the hypothetical, but those of us who listen to our neighbors understand that this is an unfortunate reality in our state."

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Indiana is one of just five states without such a law. The state Senate recently approved an amended bill that did not include specific protections common in other states’ hate crimes laws, such as for gender identity, race and religion. The current bill, which now goes to the House for consideration, would allow judges to consider bias more generally when deciding the severity of a sentence.

Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, authored the amendment to the Senate bill. "If it turns out that they committed that crime because of a bias, we’re trying to allow the judges and prosecutors to give more of a sentence because of that," Freeman told IndyStar. "My amendment does that more inclusively than the list (of specific protections).”

However, Indiana Senate Democrats released a statement Friday that said Indiana Republicans stripped Senate Bill 12 of its "list of intrinsic characteristics" — including protections for race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation or age — "which a judge could use as a basis for determining a hate crime during sentencing."

"Now with this empty shell of a bill having been pushed through the Senate, it’s up to the Indiana House of Representatives to make the bill an inclusive bias crimes proposal once again," the Democrats said.

Federal authorities could file additional charges related to a civil rights or hate crime charge. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment Friday. 

According to court documents, Passarelli, 33, told investigators he was driving south on I-465 on the west side Saturday, when another car aggressively "flew up" from behind. He heard a thud and thought the driver had thrown something or struck his car, documents said.

Passarelli followed the other driver off the 38th Street exit and into an apartment complex in the 3900 block of Wind Drift Drive East, where the men traded words.

Ayoubi, 32, got out of his car. According to court documents, Passarelli told investigators that Ayoubi called him a "dirty Jew." Passarelli is not Jewish, and other witnesses at the scene said they did not hear the statement.

Passarelli told investigators he yelled curses, insults and "something" about Muhammad at Ayoubi.

Witnesses told police Passarelli yelled ethnic and religious slurs, like “go back to your (expletive) country” and “Muhammad was a pedophile,” according to the court documents.

Ayoubi cursed at Passarelli and called him a racist, witnesses told investigators.

“You better take this guy inside or something’s gonna happen," Passarelli said, according to the documents.

One witness, according to the documents, told investigators he heard Passarelli say "I'll shoot you."

Passarelli told investigators he shot in self defense. He said Ayoubi punched his car window twice, spider cracking the glass. Other witnesses told investigators Ayoubi made a fist.

In court documents, Passarelli said he was in fear and pulled a Glock 19 handgun from his seat and shot through the car window. 

Court documents say Passarelli, who is a former EMT for Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services, attempted CPR, but Ayoubi died at the scene.

A preliminary autopsy determined that Ayoubi was shot once in his front shoulder and seven times in the back.

Ayoubi was unarmed.

"We're very broken," Zahra Ayoubi said, "but Mustafa was so charming, so handsome that each time we think about him we can't help but smile."

Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at 317-444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.