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Nabra Hassanen, Muslim teen, killed after leaving Virginia mosque

Stephanie Ramirez and Mallory Hughes
WUSA-TV, Washington, D.C.
Fairfax Police believe they found the body of a 17-year-old girl who they think went missing from The ADAMS Center Mosque early Sunday morning.

FAIRFAX, Va. - Police believe remains found in a Va. pond belong to a teen who was assaulted and killed after leaving a Virginia mosque early Sunday morning.

Nabra Hassanen, 17, was with a group of friends near the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center Mosque following Ramadan prayers early Sunday when they got into a dispute with a man driving a red car, according to police. Hassanen's friends said the man assaulted the 17-year-old and they ran back to the ADAMS Center and left the teen behind, police said.

Fairfax Police began searching at 4 a.m. Sunday. The body was found Sunday around 3 p.m. floating in a pond in Sterling, Virginia. 

Police noticed a car driving suspiciously in the area and stopped it, arresting the driver, who was taken into custody and identified as 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres, of Sterling. He has been charged with murder.

Fairfax County police tweeted  Monday that they are not investigating the attack as a hate crime. 

The chief medical examiner will confirm the identity of the victim and determine the exact cause and manner of her death. 

Nabra was a sophomore at South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., and would have been starting her junior year this fall, friends said. The slaying occurred during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims abstain from eating from dawn to sunset. Many mosques hold late night prayers, and people eat a pre-dawn meal called suhoor before they begin fasting. 

Across the country, Muslim leaders have been sharing a  GoFundMe page to help raise money for Hassanen's family. 

Muslim leaders across the country have been sharing this GoFundMe page that has raised more than $20,000 to help support the family. 

The ADAMs Center Mosque said in a statement that the community is "devastated" by the slaying. 

"It is a time for us to come together to pray and care for our youth. ADAMS has licensed counselors on site to assist anyone in need of counseling during these difficult times," the statement said.