Muhammad Syed reaches plea deal on the eve of trial

Muhammad Atif Syed has accepted a plea deal that could end the criminal cases tied to three killings that spread fear throughout Albuquerque’s Muslim community in 2022.

Syed, 53, reached the plea deal on the eve of his second trial in the shooting deaths, his attorneys said Wednesday. The plea agreement must be approved by a judge.

He was convicted by a jury in March of first-degree murder in the July 26, 2022, shooting death of 41-year-old Aftab Hussein.

State District Judge Britt Baca has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday to consider the plea agreement for two remaining counts of first-degree murder that Syed faces, said Megan Mitsunaga, one of Syed’s attorneys.

A second trial scheduled to begin Tuesday in the August 2022 shooting death of 27-year-old Mohammud Afzaal Hussain has been canceled.

The conviction requires Syed to serve at least 30 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole. His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

A judge ruled last year that Syed be tried separately for each of the three killings that rocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community in July and August 2022. His third trial remained unscheduled.

“We notified the court that we believe the parties have reached a plea agreement to resolve the remaining counts,” Mitsunaga said Wednesday in a phone interview. She declined to discuss details of the plea deal.

Attorneys notified Baca of the plea agreement on Tuesday, she said.

The 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office declined to comment Wednesday about the plea agreement.

Syed was arrested in August 2022 and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The killings sparked fears that a serial killer was targeting Muslim men. The shooting deaths garnered national media attention and a condemnation from President Joe Biden.

Syed was arrested near Santa Rosa on Aug. 9, 2022, driving a Volkswagen Jetta east on Interstate 40 toward Texas.

Syed faces two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of tampering with evidence in the shooting deaths of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on Aug. 1, 2022, and Naeem Hussein, 25, on Aug. 5, 2022.

At his trial in March in Aftab Hussein’s death on July 26, 2022, prosecutors offered little to indicate Syed’s motive for the killings.

Prosecutors allege that Syed hid in bushes outside Aftab Hussein’s home and fired at least nine shots from a high-powered AK-47 rifle, killing Hussein moments after he arrived home around 10 p.m.

Syed’s attorneys told jurors that at least four other adults in Syed’s household had access to firearms and could have fired the fatal shots. Attorneys showed jurors a photo that appears to show a woman firing an AK-47 rifle out the window of a car.

Prosecutors allege that ballistics tests show that 7.62-caliber shell casings and projectiles found at the scene of Hussein’s killing were fired by the rifle found in Syed’s bedroom.