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A woman severely beaten in her El Cajon home this week died from her injuries yesterday, and now police are investigating whether the act constituted a hate crime.
The woman Shaima Alawadi, 32, was Iraqi but she has been living here since 1993, and she was the mother of five, according to San Diego's KUSI. On Wednesday, her daughter found her in a pool of her own blood and next to her was a note saying "go back to your country, you terrorist."
Police are investigating whether the act was a hate crime, according to the Associated Press. The family told police that the Alawadi had received another threatening note before, but she brushed it off as the work of neighborhoood pranksters.
Her daughter Fatima Al Himidi gave a tearful interview to KUSI, addressing whoever did it:
"Why? Why did you do that? She's a housewife. She's innocent. She hasn't hurt anybody. She's a mother of five. Why did you do it? I found her on the floor drowned in her own blood with a letter next to her head that said "go back to your country, you terrorist." We're not the terrorists, you are."
You can watch the interview in full here: