DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – A Dearborn Heights man strangled his mother to death one month after she asked a judge to release him when he was charged with assaulting her, officials said.
Assault case
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Aaron Samir Akel, 45, of Dearborn Heights, was arrested Nov. 2, 2020, and charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm and misdemeanor domestic violence, according to authorities.
The charges stemmed from an incident involving his mother, Ibtisam Field, 73, of Dearborn Heights, police said.
Akel pleaded guilty to attempted assault with intent to do great bodily harm on March 16, 2021, and the misdemeanor charge was dropped, officials said.
His defense attorney asked for Akel to be released, but the prosecution opposed. He ultimately remained in custody from November until his sentencing hearing on April 7, 2021, according to court records.
The sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 0-11 months behind bars, and he was given three years of probation, with credit for 157 days in the county jail, authorities said.
Field appeared at the sentencing hearing and asked that her son be released, officials said. She told the court that she wanted her son to receive drug and mental health treatment. She wanted to be able to have contact with him again, according to officials.
The judge ordered that Akel have no contact with his mother, but agreed that he needed to receive treatment at a facility arranged by the probation department, authorities said.
Akel was released, but he didn’t call his probation agent like he was supposed to, police said. The agent tracked Akel down and referred him to a facility, but he didn’t show up, officials said. An attempt to follow up with Akel failed, according to authorities.
Despite the no-contact order, it appears Field allowed Akel to live at her house, officials said.
Murder charge
Dearborn Heights police were called around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday (May 4) to a home in the 5300 block of Pardee Avenue, according to authorities.
Officers said they found Field’s body in the bedroom of the home. Medical officials arrived and determined she had died of strangulation, police said.
Akel was arrested at the scene in connection with her death, officials said.
“This is what we all fear in domestic violence cases,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “The assistant prosecutor appeared in court in many times in this case. The defendant served his jail time and we worked with Mrs. Field with great care to craft a sentence that she supported to enable her son to get the help he needed. Very unfortunately, he refused to take advantage of the offered help.”
Akel is charged with one count of first-degree murder. He was arraigned Thursday at 20th District Court and remanded to the Wayne County Jail.
“I would indicate for the record that the defendant is the one who called 911 and admitted on the 911 phone call that he is the one who strangled his mother to death, and in his words, he said, ‘I killed my mom,’” the prosecutor said.
A probable cause conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 14, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 26.