Indiana Army veteran convicted of murder, despite partially blaming PTSD
There was a road rage incident involving Dustin E. Passarelli and the murder victim, Mustafa Ayoubi. Passarelli claimed that Ayoubi had either thrown something at his vehicle, or collided with him. Passarelli followed Ayoubi to an apartment complex. During the altercation, Ayoubi broke one of Passarelli’s car windows with a punch. Witnesses argued that Passarelli lobbed religion and ethnicity related insults at Ayoubi, and even called for him to return to his country.
From Fox News:
Passarelli shot and killed Ayoubi following a road rage incident on Interstate 465 that led to Passarelli following Ayoubi to an apartment complex on the city’s northwest side, according to court documents.
Passarelli told police that Ayoubi either threw something at his car or collided with it on the highway and that after he followed Ayoubi to the apartment complex, Ayoubi broke one of Passarelli’s car windows with a punch.
The defense argued that Passarelli was within his rights to fire at Ayoubi because it was self-defense.
Multiple witnesses said Passarelli and Ayoubi shouted inflammatory remarks at each other in front of a townhome. They said Passarelli yelled religious and ethnic insults at the unarmed Ayoubi, including, “Go back to your country,” shortly before he shot him.
Passarelli claimed that post-traumatic stress disorder he developed during his time in the Army contributed to his behavior on the highway and was partially to blame for the shooting. But Passarelli’s mental evaluation and PTSD claims were ruled inadmissible in court.
Passarelli was not charged with a hate crime. The FBI had said it was looking into whether Ayoubi’s killing involved a federal civil rights violation, but no federal charges were ever filed.
Fox News has the balance of the story.
Category: Veterans in the news
I don’t feel he had the best representation by his attorney. There is a lot of talk in Hoosier land how he may have been provoked and then while waiting to report the (later) individual shot for criminal acts committed he was confronted by the same individual and fired his weapon.
A little bit of info on Passerilli:
Enlisted April 2009 to train-up as a Medic. First assignment was to Fort Hood where it was rumored that he thought of Nidal Hasan as a “God”. He did go to Iraq for a deployment but was dismissed as a Buck Private with an “Other Than Honorable” discharge for fighting with a fellow soldier. Rated as 70% for PTSD by the VA, but attendance at therapy sessions was spotty.
You be the judge.
You cannot be the victim if you pursue then catch up to the person you claim victimized you. If there was a criminal act against you then call the Police and report it. Trying to “handle it yourself” is likely to not go well.
this!
Dude got angry over a stupid road rage thing and ‘mistaked’ his way into a murder charge/conviction. He had the chance to ‘break contact’ but kept on making his own rules up along the way, hence (per Claw) rising to the rank of Private No Class.
The only sympathy I have for him is what you’ll find in a dictionary somewhere between “shit” and “Syphilis”.
Dumbass. I would say “Way to phuque up your life, Dippy”, but it looks like he did that a long time ago.