A Tinley Park man was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 1, 2022, beating death of his 17-year-old daughter, a senior at Andrew High School, inside their home, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Mohammed Almaru was found guilty following a jury trial at the Bridgeview courthouse, as prosecutors portrayed him as fearing his daughter was hiding secrets from him and no longer loved him before he “went out of control” and severely beat her.
Just days before her death, Mia Maro had received permission from her father to attend Andrew’s senior prom April 29, but he then rescinded his approval, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said a sister of Almaru found her niece, Maro, in the home in the 7800 block of 167th Street on the afternoon of May 1, covered in a blanket, with her father on the floor next to her with an arm draped over his daughter’s body.
A court document at the time Almaru was charged notes the girl was “covered in numerous bruises” including injuries to her head, arms, legs and feet. Maro suffered “extensive hemorrhaging and bleeding” of the brain, and evidence suggests her father used “multiple objects” to inflict the wounds, according to the document.
A bent metal pole and a mallet, both covered in blood and hair, were found in the home, according to the document.
Several minutes before first responders came to the home, Almaru texted his son a photo showing him holding a letter in which he blamed his incapacitated wife for leading their daughter to believe her father no longer loved her, according to the court filing.
Almaru said he had searched his daughter’s phone and allegedly found information she had not been truthful about, and that “he had to beat the information out of her,” according to the document. It was not clear whether the wording was from the text or the letter Almaru was purportedly holding.
He told his son he had beaten Maro and “accidental hit her in the head and then I laid down with her was unconscious and woke up to her ‘cold body,'” according to the document.
Almaru provided his son with a code to his safe and his banking information, and told him to withdraw money, according to prosecutors.
“I (fouled) up big time I’m sorry,” he told him, according to the filing.
When first responders arrived at the home, they found Almaru with superficial wounds to his wrists and neck and a box cutter was found nearby, according to the filing.
Police said Almaru had also taken several narcotic pills and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was hospitalized.
During a May 5, 2022, news conference announcing charges against Almaru, Tinley Park police said they had no prior calls to the home apart from a medical call involving Maro’s mother.
According to court documents, Almaru’s wife, who also is Maro’s biological mother, suffered a medical emergency in spring 2019, leaving her mostly nonverbal and requiring round-the-clock care. Almaru’s two sisters were the woman’s primary caregivers, according to the document, and would often be at the Tinley Park home.
One of the sisters became concerned after her niece did not respond to texts she had sent Maro, and said she drove by the home April 30 and noticed the blinds in the home were closed, according to the filing. The woman thought it was odd because it was Maro’s habit, in the morning, to open the blinds.
The sister drove by the home that evening and the blinds were still closed and Maro did not respond to another text message, according to the court filing.
One of Almaru’s sisters went to the home the following day, Sunday, and when her brother answered the door he “appeared to be disheveled” and asked his sister to sit with his wife so that he could complete some paperwork, according to the filing.
After a time, the woman went to the door of her brother’s bedroom and “began to hear gurgling” coming from inside, and when she opened the door found her brother and niece on the floor, according to the document.
A sentencing date for Almaru has not yet been set and the man, who has been held in custody since his arrest, will next be in court Oct. 7 where post-trial motions will be reviewed, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
