Court expected to review sentence against juvenile convicted of murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation is expected to start reviewing a 12-year sentence passed against a minor who murdered a four-year-old child in Zarqa in March 2019, a senior judicial source said.

The 17-year-old defendant received the maximum sentence by the Zarqa Juvenile Court on May 16 for murdering his neighbour Nibal on March 27, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The suspect, who had a previous criminal record in auto theft, confessed in court to committing the murder and expressed regret for what he did, asking the court to reduce his sentence,” the senior judicial source said.

However, Presiding Judge Hassan Abdullat and Judge Zein Khalayleh rejected the request “because of the heinous nature of the murder and because the victim’s family refused to drop the charges against the minor”, according to the judicial source.

Court documents said the defendant lured the victim to a warehouse that belonged to his father in the building they resided in with the intent of sexually assaulting her.

“The victim screamed so he grabbed a wooden stick and beat her repeatedly in her head,” court documents said.

The defendant then washed the body, the wooden stick and his clothes in an attempt to conceal any evidence that could implicate him in the incident, the court papers said.

“The minor stashed the victim’s body under a plastic wrap and locked the warehouse door and left,” the court documents added.

Nibal’s body was found by a K-9 Unit three days later, the court added.

A report by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) concluded that the victim was not subjected to any sexual assault, the court documents said.

The NIFM report said the child suffered multiple blows to the head that caused a fractured skull, the court transcripts added.

Hundreds of people took to social media when the crime occurred to express their outrage and shock over the murder of Nibal with many calling for the minor’s execution for the “horrific and monstrous murder”.