Elijah Al-Amin was a 17-year-old teenager from Arizona who was brutally stabbed early Thursday morning July 4th, 2019. The man who stabbed him was identified by the police as Michael Paul Adams, a 27-year-old-man.
Elijah Al-Amin Stabbed for Listening to hip-hop Music
On Thursday, July 4th, 2019, police in Peoria, Ariz arrested a man who allegedly killed an innocent teenager in a brutal stabbing. According to The Root, the teen didn’t know the suspect or apparently do anything to his alleged killer, authorities say the man committed the fatal act simply because he felt threatened by the music the teen was playing.
The teenager who has since been identified as 17-year-old Elija-Al-Amin would have turned 18 in two weeks. The man who killed him has been also been identified as Michael Paul Adams, 27.
Al-Amin finished working his shift at Subway at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday and visited his girlfriend before heading to the Circle K (a convenience store chain offering a wide variety of products for people on the go). Around 1:42 a.m. Surveillance footage from the convenience store shows Al-Amin walking into the store, followed by Adams a few seconds later, reports the Republic. After Adam allegedly stabbed the teenager, Al-Amin ran out of the store where he collapsed near the gas tanks. According to Authorities, He was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead around 2:05 a.m. on Thursday. After a brief search, the cops claim they found Adams covered in blood and reportedly admitting he was “involved” in the heinous slaying.
Elijah Al-Amin (Michael Paul Adams) Suspected Killer Arrest, Charges & Criminal History
On Thursday, July 4th, police in Peoria, Ariz. charged Michael Paul Adams with the first-degree, premeditated murder of 17-year-old Elijah Al-Amin. According to the Arizona Republic’s review of court documents, Adams allegedly slit the boy’s throat and stabbed him with a pocketknife at a Peoria Circle K gas station.
Adams criminal history includes theft, disorderly conduct, assault with a weapon and assault on a corrections officer. He was released from prison on Tuesday.
Michael Paul Adams is being held on a $1 million bond pending a trial on July 15th.
Elijah Al-Amin Suspected Killer Motive
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Adams had just been released from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Yuma on Tuesday, July 2nd. Adams admitted to stabbing the teenager at about 1:42 a.m. Thursday after he heard him playing rap music in his vehicle in the Circle K parking lot, according to police records filed in Superior Court.
Adams reportedly said he was being “proactive, not reactive” because the musical genre makes him feel “unsafe” after rap music listeners attacked him in the past. Adams further said he felt threatened by the hip-hop music the teen was playing—not the teenager himself—explaining that people who play rap music are a threat to him and his community.
A lot of pundits on Social Media say the killing was racially motivated since Adams is white. Elijah Facebook intro reads: “I am a king ? proud to be who I am black white red. 哈利勒是國王 you don’t gotta lie to kick it?” He goes by the name Khalil Alamin on Facebook.
if a black man killed a 17 year old white boy for listening to country music, they wouldn’t say the black man is mentally ill. STOP using mental illness as an excuse for racism!!! and you’re painting an awful picture for people who actually have mental illnesses #JusticeForElijah pic.twitter.com/g7PuhyhRQB
— isabella (@bellaajuliaa) July 8, 2019
Adams’ attorney says he had no Access to Mental Health Services
Adams’ attorney, Cotterell says that Adams had no access to mental health services after he was released from jail on Tuesday, July 2nd. The attorney said that he was “set up for failure.”
Adams needed to see a mental health counselor but he was not given a way to access those resources, Cotterell said. “To be specific, he was given resources, he wasn’t given means to get to those resources,” she said. She further said Adams’ family did not know where he was after his release. “He was on the street,” she said.
Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesman with the Arizona Department of Corrections, said in a written statement that Adams “was not designated seriously mentally ill.” He said Adams was provided contacts for community services such as continuing care, housing, and welfare.
Adams was provided transportation to Maricopa County from the Yuma prison. From there, “he was no longer under the Department’s legal jurisdiction and the Department had no further legal authority over him,” according to the statement from Lamoreaux.
Elijah Al-Amin Family, Father’s Statement
The family of Al-Amin In an emotional interview with 12 News, Elijah’s father described his son as a good kid with “so many dreams” he wanted to accomplish. “He wanted to be hotel management, he wanted to move to Seattle, he wanted to move different places,” his dad said.
Elijah Al-Amin’s dad said he got off work from Subway around 11:30 p.m. and was meeting his girlfriend. He told his son not to come home late.
His dad wouldn’t find out what happened to his son for hours. In the interview, he says: “2 o’clock came, 3 o’clock came, 4 o’clock came, I kept calling, calling, calling, texting, texting, texting, and I wasn’t getting a response. I just had a feeling that something wasn’t right.”
Elijah’s dad said he went to his son’s girlfriend’s house and asked her if she knew where his son was. She told him his son had been stabbed and was rushed to a hospital. He called the hospital and that’s how he says he found out.
His son died around 2 a.m. Michael Adams was arrested shortly after the attack.
