Iraqi parents face trial in attempted honor killing of high-school age daughter in Washington state

The trial began this week in the Thurston County Superior Court trial of two Washington parents accused of attempting to murder their 17-year-old daughter in a suspected "honor killing."

Ihsan and Zahraa Ali are facing a slew of serious charges, including attempted murder, assault, attempted kidnapping, burglary, and violating a protection order. Prosecutors allege the couple attacked their daughter outside Timberline High School in Lacey in October 2024, after she refused to travel to Iraq for an arranged marriage to an older man.

According to court documents and witness testimony, the teenage girl fled her home early on the morning of October 18, taking only $100 with her. She sought help from a counselor at Timberline High School, who helped arrange for her to stay at a local youth shelter. As she prepared to head to the residential center, her parents intercepted her near a bus stop outside the school.

Eyewitnesses described a shocking and chaotic scene in which Ihsan Ali allegedly grabbed his daughter in a chokehold and began strangling her while repeating, “It’s not right … you are not supposed to do this.” The girl eventually lost consciousness. Disturbing video footage, shown to the jury, captured the violent struggle as students and passersby tried to intervene.

On Tuesday, jurors heard for the first time from the victim, now 18, who emotionally recounted the trauma of the attack and her fear of being forced to return to Iraq. "No matter what I say, it doesn’t really change," she told the court. She broke down while describing how heartbroken she felt as her father choked her and her fear of not being able to return to the US.

“She had looked very pale and kind of lifeless,” one student testified. “After 15-20 seconds of her being there, she had gone completely limp, and then her face was pure white.”

Several witnesses testified that her mother, Zahraa Ali, also physically attacked her daughter during the incident and punched the teen’s boyfriend in the face as he tried to intervene. According to court records, Zahraa had previously been barred from school property and was under a protection order prohibiting contact with the victim’s boyfriend, an order she allegedly violated that day.

Zahraa Ali is also facing separate charges for burglary and violating the restraining order. Her defense team has argued that she may not have understood the legal documents due to a language barrier, claiming she cannot read English.

Among those who intervened during the incident was school bus driver John Denicola, who testified to pulling Ihsan Ali’s arms apart to release the girl. “Obviously, she was in distress, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head,” he said. “The look on his face and the way he was squeezing, he was choking her.”

Another witness, Mary Wagner, who called 911, described the girl as confused and terrified after breaking free. “She had hair in her face, she looked completely disheveled … absolutely terrified.”

After escaping, the girl and her boyfriend ran into the school building, with the teen screaming that her father had just tried to kill her.

Jurors also heard from a Lacey police officer who responded to the scene and had previously served Zahraa Ali with the restraining order, reinforcing prosecutors' claims that the mother knowingly violated it.

The trial is expected to continue for 2-3 weeks.