A Chicago father, Mohammed Almaru, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection to the killing of his 17-year-old daughter, Mia Maro, according to authorities.
Police officers found Maro’s body in her family’s home in Tinley Park, a suburb of Chicago, on Sunday around 5 p.m. after the victim’s aunt called 911 to report a possible death, Tinley Park Police Chief Matthew Walsh said during a press conference on Tuesday, FOX 32 Chicago reported.
Officers showed up at the residence shortly after the 911 call and found Maro’s 42-year-old father, suffering from self-inflicted injuries to his wrists and throat. He also appeared to have “several narcotics” in his system at the time, according to Walsh.
Investigators then found the body of his 17-year-old daughter nearby, on the lower level of the house. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled Maro’s cause of death a homicide. However, the medical examiner could not point to one specific injury as her cause of death.
When cops found her body on Sunday, Maro had “several injuries,” including “serious bruising throughout her whole body”. The medical examiner did not reveal any “one injury” as her cause of death. In addition, investigators do not know of any prior abuse in the household at this time, according to Walsh.
The 17-year-old victim was apparently one of several children in the house and possibly the only girl.
Almaru was rushed to a hospital where he is currently being treated. According to Walsh, he is “not cooperating” with homicide detectives and hasn’t been “totally conscious”.
“People are traumatized by this. It’s absolutely tragic,” the police chief said. Maro was a senior at Andrew High School and was set to graduate in the coming weeks.
“On behalf of the entire Village of Tinley Park, I’d like to offer my sincerest condolences to everyone who knew and loved Mia,” Mayor Michael Glotz said. “By all accounts she was a lovely young woman at the very beginning of her life, a life that she will now never get to fulfill. To her family, friends and fellow students at Andrew High School, we mourn her passing with you.”
