Trial underway for man accused of killing Lebanese neighbour

Trial underway for man accused of killing Lebanese neighbour
Jurors are preparing to hear opening statements in a trial for an Oklahoma man accused of first-degree murder and a hate crime in the slaying of his Lebanese neighbour.
2 min read
29 January, 2018
Khaild Jabara's death could have been prevented, his family says. [Facebook/Victoria Jabara Williams]
Jurors are preparing to hear opening statements in a trial for an Oklahoma man accused of first-degree murder and a hate crime in the slaying of his Lebanese neighbour.

Stanley Vernon Majors is expected to be in a Tulsa courtroom when his trial resumes Monday in district court.

The 63-year-old is accused in the August 2016 killing of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara.

Prosecutors say Majors fatally shot Jabara after bombarding him and his family with racial insults for years.

Majors previously pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and malicious intimidation and harassment, which is Oklahoma's hate-crime law.

Majors' attorneys have indicated they will present a mental health-based defense, though Majors was previously found competent to stand trial.

A jury of nine men and five women, including two alternates, was selected Friday.

The Jabara family says it had for years lived in fear of Majors, who repeatedly attacked their ethnicity and perceived religion with slurs such as "dirty Arabs," "filthy Lebanese," "Aye-rabs," and "Mooslems," wrote Khalid's sister Victoria on Facebook at the time.

The family is in fact Christian.

Jabara's family and many observers have said that his death could have been prevented if authorities had taken the family's concerns seriously.