The woman found guilty of killing first cousins Mahmoud Bazzi, 20, and Hussein El-Zaghir, 26, of Dearborn on May 17 last year during a car accident in Detroit after speeding and failing to stop at a yield sign was sentenced by a judge Nov. 10 to serve three years’ probation.   

Hussein El-Zaghir’s memory is honored at the family home with numerous photos. PHOTOS: Natasha Dado/TAAN

The families of Bazzi and El-Zaghir say the judge’s verdict isn’t fair, and are concerned the woman never served jail time and had the incident cleared from her record.  No jury was present during the trial according to the family.

Bazzi’s mother Shadia Faraj of Dearborn died of a heart attack June 19, almost a month after in Lebanon where she went to attend the burial for her son and nephew in Bint Jebail. Faraj’s son, Ali Bazzi, said his mom had the heart attack while having photographic mementos of her late son made at a Lebanese studio. The family believes distress from the deaths triggered the heart attack.

In court the judge said he didn’t want to ruin a fourth life or get the woman’s medical certificate taken away because she may not be able to find a job according to the family of the victims. The judge said the woman’s apology to the family also influenced his decision. But the family says the woman apologized because the judge asked her to. Ihaam El-Zaghir, sister of one the victims, says her brother spoke out in court and told the woman she’s seen the family a dozen times in court over the course of the last year and she never once turned around to say sorry.  

“So basically the judge is saying I can get in a car, go 82 miles an hour in a 25 mile per hour speed zone, kill two people, and I’ll be let off the hook as long as I say I’m sorry?  That’s exactly what he said. Are you kidding me, because she said she was sorry? She didn’t even get a speeding ticket,” said Fatima El-Zaghir, sister of one of the victims.

A photo of Shadia Faraj and her son, Mahmoud, is displayed in the family’s home.

The woman claims the accident occurred after she received a call to pick up her drunk cousin and his friend while she was at her sister’s house doing her hair. She said she never saw the yield sign and was speeding because she was eager to attend church the next day. According to news reports the woman committed a hit-and-run, fleeing the scene leaving Bazzi and El-Zaghir to die. She said she told police it was her several times but they wouldn’t believe her, and says she wasn’t drunk. Family members of the victims say the police never tested the woman or the two passengers to see if they were under the influence of alcohol. Last year a witness told a local news television station the driver smelled like alcohol.  The two passengers in the car with the woman  weren’t questioned and never attended one court hearing the family says. “Where is our proof?” asked Malaak Bazzi, Mahmoud Bazzi’s sister.  

“When we tell people about the verdict their jaws drop and they’re like ‘are you kidding me?'” said Bazzi. She says she wishes a leader from her community attended the hearing to stand up for her family.

  Ihaam El-Zaghir said before the hearing on Nov. 10 a prosecutor told her family there was nothing they could do and the judge had already made his decision.  The judge became angry and denied the notion when confronted about it in court she said. 

Both cousins provided a source of income for both their families. Since the incident life has been a constant struggle for both families. Bazzi, 18, had to get a job. Her family lost their home, she had to move in with cousins and her brother, Ali moved in with his aunt.

Ihaam, 21, said she may not take college classes this coming semester and just work full time.  “Things have been horrible. It’s a dramatic change for a 16-year-old girl to lose a brother, father figure, mother and a house.  A lot of things changed,” Bazzi said.   “I mean I have my family around me, it’s hard but what can we do? I just don’t think it’s fair for everything she put my family through to just walk away like that.”