Case # 12ZF0152
Date: September 8, 2015
FORMER MARINE TO FACE TRIAL FOR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES STABBING-MURDER OF PREGNANT WOMAN
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former Marine will face trial tomorrow for the stabbing death of a woman and her unborn child. Ahmad Rashad Siddiqi, 27, Alexandria, Virginia, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by lying in wait and one felony count of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. If convicted, Siddiqi faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in Department C-40, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At the time of the crime, the defendant was a former Marine living in Alexandria, Virginia. Siddiqi was involved in a long-distance dating relationship with 24-year-old Soraya Faroqi, who was a civilian translator in Afghanistan and provided interpreter services for U.S. troops. Faroqi had returned to Orange County from Afghanistan on Dec. 13, 2011, and was in her first trimester of pregnancy.
On Dec. 18, 2011, the defendant is accused of flying from his home in Virginia to Orange County to talk with Faroqi about the status of their relationship. On Dec. 19, 2011, Siddiqi is accused of meeting with the victim in the Westminster apartment of Faroqi’s friend.
During a discussion of their relationship inside the apartment, the defendant is accused of chasing Faroqi from the apartment with a knife. He is accused of pushing her into the bushes in a nearby carport and repeatedly stabbing Faroqi as her friend screamed for him to stop. Faroqi and her unborn child died as a result of the injuries.
Witnesses called 911 and the Westminster Police Department arrested the defendant at the scene.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Keith Burke of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.