Written by
Pauline Repard


5:16 p.m., March 24, 2012
Updated 11:09 p.m.

EL CAJON — An Iraqi immigrant and mother of five died Saturday
of injuries from a severe beating in her El Cajon home, where a note
warning the family to “go back to your own country” was left next to
her.

El Cajon police said they are investigating the possibility of a hate crime.



The attack on Shaima Alawadi, 32, has shocked and grieved Muslims and others in San Diego and beyond.



“People who have heard of it
are numb,” said Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the San Diego
chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations. “I have had
communications from the San Francisco Bay Area asking, ‘how can I help
this family,’ and even around the country people are praying for the
family.

“Given the fact of these notes
left, we’re obviously concerned about the possibility of a hate crime. I
don’t think anyone would disagree this is a coldblooded murder.”

Police said the 17-year-old
daughter of Alawadi and Kassim Al Himidi found her mother unconscious in
the dining room of the family’s Skyview Street home about 11:15 a.m.
Wednesday. Alawadi was hospitalized, then taken off life support about 3
p.m. Saturday. She died a short time later, police said.

The daughter told KUSI Channel
9/51 her mother had been beaten on the head repeatedly with a tire iron.
Mohebi said the daughter had been sleeping upstairs. When she went
downstairs, “it was too late and the (attacker) was gone. The sliding
glass door was broken.”

Police did not disclose
contents of the note found next to Alawadi. A family friend said the
note read, “go back to your own country. You’re a terrorist.”

El Cajon police Lt. Mark Coit
said the family told investigators they found a similar note outside the
house earlier this month, but did not report it to authorities. Alawadi
had dismissed that note as a child’s prank, her daughter told KUSI.

Investigators have not said whether they have any leads to the assailant.



“Although we are exploring all
aspects of this investigation, evidence thus far leads us to believe
this is an isolated incident,” Coit said. “A hate crime is one of the
possibilities and we will be looking at that. We don’t want to focus on
one issue and miss something else.”

Al Himidi and Alawadi
immigrated from Iraq to the United States about 1995, Mohebi said. He
said he was not sure when the couple moved to San Diego. Their two sons
and three daughters range in age from 8 to 17.

Mohebi said he was with the
family at the hospital early Saturday and they were "extremely shocked
at the whole thing. They are trying to cope with the incident.

"I am trying to figure it out. If this was a hate crime, this tells us we have a lot more work to do in our community.