Suspect in killing of maintenance worker at Sanford mosque indicted for murder

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SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A grand jury in Seminole County indicted the man accused of killing a maintenance worker at a mosque in Sanford on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder Tuesday.

38-year-old Ahmad Raslan was also indicted on charges of burglary of a structure with assault or battery, and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

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Seminole County deputies responded to a 911 call from the Husseini Islamic Center in Sanford just before 9 a.m. on March 24.

They arrived to find the victim, 59-year-old Mahmood Kouther Abdullatif Al Taee, dead from severe head trauma.

Before his body was found, witnesses said they saw Al Taee’s van leaving the area.

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Later that day, deputies in Indian River County found Raslan in Al Taee’s van parked at a shopping center in Vero Beach.

Raslan was shot by Indian River County deputies as they attempted to take him into custody.

Once he was well enough to be released from the hospital, Raslan was transferred to the Seminole County jail on a charge of murder.

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After hearing testimony from the Seminole County detective investigating the murder, a grand jury returned Tuesday with the indictment for first-degree murder.

Raslan has been held in the Seminole County jail on no bond since he was released from the hospital. He’s scheduled to be arraigned on May 17.

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