Man sentenced to life in stepdaughter's slaying

MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) -- A 47-year-old Minnesota man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the fatal shooting of his 20-year-old stepdaughter after she left home to be with relatives in Michigan. Rahim Alfetlawi of Coon Rapids was sentenced last Thursday in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens. A jury found Alfetlawi guilty last month of first-degree murder in the April 30, 2011 death of Jessica Mokdad at her grandmother's home in the Detroit suburb of Warren. A defense attorney says Mokdad accidentally was shot during a struggle over a gun. Authorities at first said say Alfetlawi was angry because Mokdad left home and wasn't following Islam. They later said religion wasn't an issue and the confrontation grew out of his efforts to find his stepdaughter's biological father. Published: Mon, Nov 19, 2012