First-degree murder charges were filed against Alaa Edeen M. Qouqazeh, 27, in relation to the Dec. 8 death of his father, Mohammad Qouqazeh, 59, of Chicago Ridge.
Mohammad Qouqazeh was killed in his home on the 10500 block of South Austin Avenue in what police called an “isolated, domestic-related event.” His cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
In a petition seeking pretrial detention, prosecutors said Alaa Edeen Qouqazeh sent several alarming texts to his mother apparently from his father’s home at about 4 a.m. Dec. 8. His mother then sent his sister to check on the two. When she arrived at the apartment, she found Mohammad Qouqazeh unresponsive and Alaa Edeen Qouqazeh gone, the petition said.
Alaa Edeen Qouqazeh was arrested later the same day. He told police he had been afraid Mohammad Qouqazeh had been poisoning him, using dark magic and causing him to hear voices, prosecutors said.
Cook County Judge William Fahy ordered that Alaa Edeen Qouqazeh be held in custody pending trial. A status hearing has been set for Jan. 2.
The office of the lawyer listed in court records as representing Alaa Edeen Qouqazeh declined to comment on the case.
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