Police charged a 22-year-old man with the murder of a teenage girl who reportedly attended a Ramadan prayer service in Fairfax County just hours earlier.

The girl, who was identified by family members as Nabra Hassanen, was walking to a late night prayer service at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque in Sterling around 4 a.m.

Police say that Hassanen was walking outside with a group of friends when they got into a dispute with a man in a car, according to a release from the Fairfax County Police Department. Police say the man, who they’ve identified as Darwin A. Martinez Torres, got out of his car and assaulted Hassanen.

After friends couldn’t find Hassanen, several of them ran back to the mosque and told officials about the incident, a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office told The Post.

Patrol officers from the Fairfax County Police and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office began to canvas the area with a helicopter and K-9 teams, among other search methods, according to the release. While searching, an officer saw a car “driving suspiciously in the area” and stopped it. Police took the driver, Martinez Torres, into custody as a suspect.

They later obtained a murder warrant charging him for Hassanen’s murder.

Around 3 p.m. on Sunday, police found the remains of a female in a pond in Sterling. Detectives believe the remains are Hassanen, but the Office of The Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to confirm the identity and determine the cause and manner of death.

The 16 year old’s mother, Sawsan Gazzar, said detectives told her that Hassanen was struck with a metal bat, according to The Post. “Please pray for me, please pray for me,” she said on Sunday evening. “Pray for me that I can handle this . . . I lost my daughter, my first reason for happiness.”

Gazzar said that she thinks her daughter’s death had to do with her attire and the fact that she’s Muslim. She was wearing a traditional Muslim dress for women at the time of the incident.

Police said today that they are not investigating the murder as a hate crime, but did not specify why, according to The Post.

The mosque released a statement saying that “we are devastated and heartbroken as our community undergoes and processes this traumatic event. It is a time for us to come together to pray and care for our youth.”

Politicians including Republican Congresswoman for Virginia Barbara Comstock, who represents the district where the mosque is located, released statements and condolences.

This post has been updated.

Filed Under: Darwin A. Martinez Torres, muslim teen, nabra Hassanen,