An employee of a convenience store in downtown Tacoma was charged with murder Wednesday for allegedly stabbing a homeless woman to death after she stole sunglasses and condoms, according to charging documents.
Abdelhakim Choubabi, 52, was charged in Pierce County Superior Court with first-degree murder.
He pleaded not guilty at arraignment Wednesday afternoon. Superior Court Commissioner Craig Adams ordered him held without bail for purposes of completing an evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial.
Choubabi is accused of using a "samurai-type" sword to stab and kill 37-year-old Odessa Easterlin on Saturday outside of the Candy Market convenience store at the corner of South 9th and Market streets. Easterlin died of multiple stab wounds to the torso, according to the Pierce County medical examiner. She was from Lakewood.
The defendant has previously been convicted of attempted first-degree assault in 2008 for allegedly stabbing his pregnant wife and a friend in Tacoma five years earlier, according to court records.
The charges were initially dismissed after he was found incompetent to stand trial three times. Records show charges were refiled against Choubabi in 2007 after Western State Hospital said his condition had improved during a civil commitment.
According to charging documents in Easterlin's killing, the victim was known to Choubabi, nearby residents and patrol officers because she frequently slept outside of the downtown store.
Choubabi was arrested on Saturday after he returned to the crime scene to speak with police, according to the probable cause document. Detectives later interviewed the defendant through an interpreter because he said he spoke Arabic.
In the interview, the man allegedly told detectives he retrieved the sword from the store with the intent of killing Easterlin after she stole items and hit him in the head.
"The defendant reported that he was tired of [Easterlin] because she constantly stole items, she 'smelled bad', and would urinate outside the store," the declaration for determination of probable cause states.
According to the document, Choubabi had been contacted about mental health issues as recently as April 20. He called 911 from the Candy Market saying he wanted to hurt someone or himself. The defendant allegedly said he had been released from a hospital the day before. When officers responded, he approached them with a knife but eventually dropped it and cooperated with them. It's not clear if he received mental health services after the call.
Charging documents gave this account:
Tacoma Police Department officers were dispatched about 7:48 p.m. to 767 Market St. for a report that a woman was being hit with a stick. Tacoma Fire Department also responded and informed police that the woman had been stabbed and was dead.
The victim was found on the sidewalk about 20 feet from the entrance to Candy Market. According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, patrol officers knew the woman because she was homeless and had been staying in that area of downtown.
Witnesses told police that the man who stabbed her had left the area in a sedan driven by another person. While officers were on the scene, a clerk at the market, identified as Choubabi, returned on foot and turned himself in.
A language barrier made it difficult for police to communicate with Choubabi. According to the probable cause document, the man said "something about acting in self-defense." Police started to advise him of his Miranda rights, but Choubabi said he didn't understand and indicated he spoke Arabic. However, there were no Arabic-speaking officers throughout Pierce County who could assist at the time.
The person who drove Choubabi from the scene spoke with detectives. According to the probable cause document, he is the son of the Candy Market's owner. He said he pulled up to the store, and the defendant, who he called "Hakeem," got in and said, "Go, go go!"
The two went to a restaurant, where Choubabi allegedly said that a woman tried to kill him, so he stabbed her, according to the probable cause document. The son told police he advised Choubabi to return to the store and talk to police. He said he drove him back.
Detectives later interviewed Choubabi at police headquarters using the "InSight Interpreters" app which allowed police to have an interpreter on speakerphone.
Choubabi told detectives the incident began when the victim stole sunglasses and condoms from the store, according to the probable cause document. He said he followed her out of the store to grab the items back, and the woman hit him in the back of the head.
The defendant said he then went back inside to retrieve a sword. According to the probable cause document, Choubabi said he approached the woman, who was sitting on the ground, then swung the sword at her face before stabbing her in the stomach.
Choubabi said he put the sword back inside the store, then went outside and saw the store owner's son pulling up in a car, so he got in.
