Slain Man’s Family Wants Shooter to Be Charged

The family of an Irvine man shot to death last month during an argument with a neighbor said Tuesday that they want prosecutors to reopen the investigation and bring charges against the neighbor.

The brother and the sister of Amir Zekria, 23, charged that their brother was shot in an unprovoked attack Dec. 16 outside an Irvine apartment complex.

But police and prosecutors said Zekria was shot in self-defense and have declined to bring charges against the neighbor, Chrysthanus Thomas, 25. The case, they said, remains open.

Kabir and Ozra Zekria wept during a news conference in front of the Orange County Courthouse and they will ask U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno’s office to step in.

“It’s been 43 days since my brother was killed,” Ozra Zekria said. “How long do we have to wait for justice?”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki, the prosecutor handling the Zekria shooting, said, “the case is still under very active investigation and review” and that he has invited the Zekrias to talk with him about the status of the case. He declined to talk about details of the case.

“They have never asked me for a meeting,” Tanizaki said Tuesday.

Tuesday’s protest was organized by Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. in Los Angeles. He called prosecutors “a bunch of idiots” for releasing Thomas.

Ali is the man who launched a petition drive and staged rallies demanding that David Cash be tried as an accomplice in the murder of 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson in a Nevada casino in May 1997.

Cash is the brash 20-year-old UC Berkeley student who acknowledged that he witnessed the start of Jeremy Strohmeyer’s assault on the girl but did nothing to stop it.

Strohmeyer admitted Sept. 8 to killing Iverson, avoiding a jury trial and a possible death sentence. In December, the FBI launched an investigation into Cash’s possible involvement in the Iverson slaying.

Ali vowed to stage “the biggest protest you’ve ever seen” in front of the courthouse if charges are not filed against Thomas by week’s end.

Tanizaki said his office won’t be bullied by such threats.

“Justice has to run both ways,” he said.

Thomas was arrested on suspicion of murder Dec. 18, two days after Amir Zekria, an Irvine Valley College business student, was shot once in the chest in front of “many witnesses,” police said.

The two men were apparently arguing in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 10 Thunder Run, where they both lived.

Thomas was released from custody a week later because the district attorney’s office said there was not sufficient evidence to file murder charges.

“It’s unbelievable,” said 26-year-old Kabir Zekria, who said his family’s safety is in jeopardy now that Thomas is on the streets.

Tanizaki said his office and law enforcement authorities know where Thomas is and he doesn’t believe the Zekrias have anything to fear.

“He’s not in the area,” Tanizaki said.

Despite Tanizaki’s assurance that the case is under investigation, the Zekrias said they have lost faith in the criminal justice system.

“I feel like we don’t belong here,” said a tearful Ozra Zekria, who moved to the United States from Afghanistan eight years ago.

“The district attorney should have a little more heart for my brother. Right now it’s like my whole family was murdered.”