A Des Moines teen who stabbed his brother to death last year will spend up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Mohamed Elzubeir, now 17, was 16 in June 2024 when he fatally stabbed 19-year-old Abdelmagid Elzubeir in the neck at a Des Moines apartment building. He was charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
The case was delayed several times due to concerns about Elzubeir’s mental fitness to stand trial, but the judge eventually ruled Elzubeir’s competency had been restored and scheduled a trial in November. Attorneys noted in prior court hearings that Elzubeir suffered a serious brain injury in 2021, when he was involved in a high-speed car chase and crash that resulted in the deaths of three other teens.
On Aug. 1, however, prosecutors asked the court to schedule a plea hearing, and on Wednesday, Aug. 6, Elzubeir pleaded guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge. He was sentenced to 10 years with credit for time served and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to his brother’s estate, as required by Iowa law.
At his sentencing, according to the Polk County Attorney’s Office, Elzubeir told Judge Joseph Seidlin that he had “blood on his hands” and that his older brother had picked on and bullied him for years. Seidlin said that Elzubeir “has a long, troubled history of managing his behaviors,” exacerbated by the 2021 crash, and that the plea deal, in which Elzubeir is expected to be incarcerated at the state’s Medical Classification Center in Oakdale, will provide a structured environment to help him regulate his behavior and undergo treatment while protecting the community.
The brothers’ father, Mutaz Elzubeir, told the Des Moines Register after the stabbing that his elder son was on track to finish high school before his death and was looking forward to the next step in his education.
“He wanted to go to college in New York,” he said. “He wanted to be a doctor. He was such a good boy.”
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines teen who stabbed brother pleads guilty to manslaughter, gets 10-year sentence
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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