HOUSTON, TEXAS // One of the two men accused of shooting dead an Emirati army captain had already been arrested this year on a serious weapons charge.
Detone Lewayne Price, 18, and Corey Trevon Perry, 17, both from Houston, Texas, are charged with the capital murder of Salem Saif Al Mazroui.
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It is the most serious murder charge under Texas law. If convicted, Mr Price would be eligible for the death penalty but Mr Perry would not because he is under 18.
Mr Price has been charged with three other crimes this year. In February, he was charged with aggravated robbery using a deadly weapon, and unauthorised use of a motor vehicle. While in jail on that offence, he was charged with having stolen a laptop and cash in January.
Mr Price was free on bail when he was arrested on August 10 for the murder of Captain Al Mazroui.
Mr Perry has no arrests as an adult. Any criminal history before he turned 17 is not on public record.
The two are being held in separate Harris County jails in line with a court order made on August 18. They will remain separate during transport to and from the court. Prosecutors would not say why the two were being kept apart.
Mr Price will appear tomorrow at the Harris County 178th criminal district court. Mr Perry will appear at the same court on October 13.
According to the criminal complaint, Captain Al Mazroui, 28, and his father arrived at their apartment in the San Marin complex in south-west Houston at about 10.30pm on August 7. Mr Al Mazroui went inside while his son waited in the car.
Soon after, Mr Perry and Mr Price forced their way inside with Captain Al Mazroui and locked the door behind them.
Mr Perry had a gun and was threatening both of them, but Mr Al Mazroui told police he did not understand what the two young men were saying, according to the complaint.
He told police Mr Perry kept armed watch over him and his son while Mr Price, who was unarmed, searched them and their apartment for valuables.
Mr Al Mazroui said Mr Price searched him first. When Mr Price moved to search Captain Al Mazroui, his father rushed to the door to try to escape.
He was able to unlock and open the door before Mr Price tried to stop him. Captain Al Mazroui rushed to help his father escape.
Mr Al Mazroui Sr told police he was able to get outside, but heard two or three shots and saw his son fall to the ground.
Captain Al Mazroui was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to the complaint, Mr Price and Mr Perry then drove away in the Al Mazrouis' car, which had been left running. It was later found abandoned.
Evidence found in the car led to the arrest of the two teenagers and Mr Al Mazroui picked Mr Perry out of a photo lineup.
Capital murder charges can be filed when murder is committed in the course of a robbery. It is punishable by death.
Texas has executed more inmates than any other US state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Donna Hawkins, of the Harris County district attorney's public information office, said the district attorney would decide whether to pursue the death penalty as the trial progressed.
Jury selection for Mr Price's trial requires a "death-qualified" panel, the members of which are not categorically opposed to capital punishment, but who also would consider life imprisonment in a capital murder case.
If the jury does not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Perry and Mr Price are guilty of capital murder, they may still be convicted of murder or a lesser offence.
Captain Al Mazroui's body was returned to the UAE on August 11. Family members took his body from Dubai International Airport to his hometown of Adhen in Ras Al Khaimah, where he was buried on August 12.
His father had been receiving cancer treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
How to help or find other cats to adopt
The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Francis%20Lawrence%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ERachel%20Zegler%2C%20Peter%20Dinklage%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Tom%20Blyth%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20profile
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
SWEET%20TOOTH
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreated%20by%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jim%20Mickle%2C%20Beth%20Schwartz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nonso%20Anozie%2C%20Christian%20Convery%2C%20Adeel%20Akhtar%2C%20Stefania%20LaVie%20Owen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
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