An English man has been found guilty of murdering his teenage girlfriend after prosecutors said he rammed her against a lamppost with a flatbed truck and then tried to cover up what happened.
Mohammed Azim, 41, was convicted of murdering 19-year-old Lily Whitehouse following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, West Midlands Police announced on Friday, June 19.
The horrifying incident happened on Nov. 5 in Oldbury, West Midlands.
Paramedics found Whitehouse seriously injured on Park Street shortly after 9:30 p.m. She died a short time later.
According to the BBC, Whitehouse had visited her premature baby in a hospital intensive care unit just hours before she was killed.
A pathologist found that the 19-year-old suffered multiple injuries, including traumatic injuries to her chest, a broken upper arm, fractured ribs and a laceration to her liver.
Police said Azim was at the scene when emergency crews arrived, but he initially claimed Whitehouse had been the victim of a hit-and-run.
According to West Midlands Police, Azim called 999 and told ambulance workers that she “had been run over” and that “it literally just happened.” He also told them she “was in his truck.”
But investigators said that story quickly fell apart.
“Azim tried to cover up Lily’s murder by calling 999 and inventing a story that she was hit by a second vehicle,” Detective Inspector Nigel Box said in a police statement. “However, our investigation proved otherwise. Azim killed Lily in a nearby location and then put her back in his truck and dropped her at Park Street.”
During the trial, Azim’s defense attorney, Imran Shafi, argued that Whitehouse’s death was not murder. He said it was either an accident or, at most, manslaughter.
“We say that this is clearly not a murder,” Shafi said during closing arguments, according to the BBC. “The real question for you to decide is whether this is a case of manslaughter or a pure accident.”
He also argued that there was “absolutely no evidence” Azim intended to kill Whitehouse or cause her serious injury.
Jurors, however, found Azim guilty of murder.
The trial also heard evidence about Whitehouse’s relationship with Azim. According to the BBC, jurors were told that Whitehouse’s baby was not Azim’s and that she had tried to hide her pregnancy from him.
Whitehouse’s friend, Libby Higgs, told the court that the teen’s relationship with Azim had been abusive.
“She told me he used to say vile things to her, he used to punch her and do things to her like that and at points it would mark her arms,” Higgs said, according to the BBC.
Azim is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.
Whitehouse’s death has left those who knew her devastated. She was just 19 years old, a young mother who had only recently visited her premature baby in the hospital before her life was taken.
Police say Azim tried to make her death look like a roadside accident, but investigators ultimately uncovered the truth.
Oh goody, he will be sentenced on Monday. Lets see, since he is a 41yr old muslim, he will probably get off with a “don’t do that again, we don’t like murder in the UK”.