Arab-American killed in suspected 'anti-Muslim hate crime'

Court records and interviews reveal a contentious history between the family and the killer

A Lebanese-American was shot dead on his porch by a neighbour who racially harassed the victim’s family for years.

Khalid Jabara, 37, was killed on the night of August 12 at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The family's neighbour, 61-year-old Stanley Vernon Majors, was arrested and is expected to be charged with first-degree murder, according to Tulsa County police.



Members of Jabara’s family issued statements after his death suggesting that police should have intervened sooner. “My family lived in fear of this man and his hatred for years,” read a statement from the family. “Yet in May, not even one year after he ran over our mother and despite our repeated protests, he was released from jail with no conditions on his bond – no ankle monitor, no drug/alcohol testing, nothing.”

Majors was awaiting trial for aggravated assault after allegedly hitting Jabara's mother, Haifa, with his car last September, which caused her numerous injuries. He was released on bond in May. The family said Majors repeatedly used anti-Arab slurs against them, calling them "dirty Arabs", "filthy Lebanese", "Aye-rabs", and "Mooslems."

Stanley Majors, 61, was arrested on Friday for first-degree murder by police in the city of Tulsa, over allegations that he shot and killed his neighbor, Khalid Jabara. PHOTO: TULSA COUNTY JAIL

Tulsa police also confirmed that Jabara's mother had a protective order out against Majors, which ordered him to stay away from her and her home, and that he had "a criminal history" with his neighbours.



After the shooting, Majors reportedly pointed a gun at a witness before fleeing the crime scene. He was arrested a short time later hiding behind a tree at a nearby school.

This story originally appeared on Al Jazeera.