FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) 鈥� A Northern Virginia man who pleaded guilty to raping and killing a Reston teen in what authorities called a “road rage” attack has been sentenced to life in prison.
Darwin Martinez-Torres attacked 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen in June 2017 as she was walking back to a mosque with friends after a pre-dawn fast food meal ahead of Ramadan services.
The judge’s sentence imposing eight life sentences for Hassanen’s murder, rape and abduction comes after Martinez-Torres, of Sterling, struck a plea bargain last year. That plea bargain required the judge to impose a sentence of life without parole, in exchange for eliminating a potential death sentence.
Hassanen was part of a group of at least a dozen teens walking and riding bicycles back to the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque in Sterling, Virginia, from a nearby McDonald’s when Martinez-Torres drove up to the group, got into an argument and eventually got out of his car and chased down and bludgeoned Hassen with a baseball bat.
Police said he then took her in his car to Loudoun County, where he raped her. After the girl died, he dumped her body in a pond near his home in Sterling, Virginia, police said.
The teen’s death received widespread attention amid concerns her slaying was motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment. Prosecutors, though, said there was no evidence of a hate crime or that the killing was motivated by race or religion.
Martinez-Torres is a native of El Salvador; immigration authorities say he was in the country illegally.
Hassanen’s killing prompted a series of nationwide vigils.
On what would have been Hassanen’s 18th birthday last spring, family and friends hosted a charity event that put together care packages for the homeless in D.C.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report).
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
