Dearborn man convicted in 2020 murder of girlfriend

Lina PortmanMay 25, 2024

0 3 minutes read

If it were up to Wayne County Judge Paul Cusick, Hassan Alwaily would spend the maximum 40 years of his sentence in prison for fatally strangling his girlfriend and leaving her body in his bathtub.

But Cusick was limited by a plea deal and sentencing agreement when he sentenced Alwaily, 37, to 10 to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder in connection with Balkees' death Sadek, 29 years old, in April 2020.

He said during Alwaily's sentencing hearing Friday that it was “clear beyond a reasonable doubt” that Alwaily killed Sadek. He was concerned about Alwaily's plea deal, which lowered the charge to second-degree murder and set the sentencing agreement from 10 to 40 years. He thought it was too light a sentence and only accepted it because the family wanted it, to avoid going to trial.

“I am concerned about a minimum 10-year (prison sentence) because of the brutality of this crime,” Cusick said. “Let me say something I've never said before at a sentencing. I think Mr. Alwaily should spend the full 40 years in prison. … I think (the parole board) should not not release him on parole based on the seriousness of this crime.

Sadek's sisters found her strangled to death in her bathtub on April 6, 2020. She is believed to have been killed earlier that day. His sisters said Hassan and Sadek had had an on-and-off tumultuous romantic relationship and that he had recently threatened to “make Sadek's life hell,” according to a 2022 appeals court ruling on the legality of the seizure by the police of Hassan's cell phone.

Hassan told police he hadn't spoken to Sadek in about a week, but investigators found a deleted text message to Sadek saying he was on his way to see her around 2 a.m. on the 6th. april. His phone had been turned off from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. am and he searched on the Internet how to delete location history from Google.

Surveillance footage showed Hassan entering the Sadek neighborhood around 2:15 a.m. and leaving around 5:25 a.m., according to the appeals court ruling. Its security system confirmed these times.

Amir Makled, Alwaily's lawyer, said his client understood that a trial would expose the family to another traumatic and horrific experience. He still refused to say anything until Cusick condemned him.

“Mr. Alwaily maintains the no contest plea that he accepted,” Makled said. “It’s a show of remorse in that he can say anything.”

Sadek's younger sister, Maha, said she and her sister found Balkees — who they called Bebe because she couldn't pronounce Balkees when she was younger — dead in the bathtub on April 6, 2020. This The sight still haunts her, she said.

Balkees was the second oldest in a family of seven children, Maha said, and “she was more than a sister, she was like my mother.” Their father had long commutes and worked late and their stepmother didn't speak much English, so Balkees was the one who went to parent-teacher conferences and picked her up from high school every day. She helped a brother earn money when he didn't know what to do after school by hiring her to do renovations around his house; she drove another to work every day when he didn't have a car, Maha said.

And she raised two daughters and ran two small businesses from her home, she said. Maha described her sister as creative and welcoming, and said she loved art and people. She wanted to make friends with everyone, she said.

“She was and still is the soul of our family,” Maha said. “We are completely lost without her. … My family has suffered every day for the last four years and we continue to suffer.”

She explained that their father, Mohamad Sadek, spends two hours at the cemetery every day. Her brother had to explain to his young daughter why Aunt Bebe can't come back to life. And the two young daughters of Balkees will have to live the rest of their lives without their mother.

Lina Portman

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