Darwin Martinez Torres (Photo via Fairfax County Police Department)

Fairfax County prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the man accused of killing a 17-year-old Muslim girl in June.

On Monday, a grand jury indicted 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres on eight counts including capital murder, rape, and abduction.

The high-profile killing of Nabra Hassanen drew attention and protests across the country, as some people suspected it was a hate-bias crime. Police have said they have no reason to believe that religion played a role in the killing of Hassanen, who was wearing a hijab when she was allegedly attacked by Torres.

While Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh declined to share the findings that lead to the indictments, he did say that he planned to seek the death penalty based on that evidence, according to The Washington Post and NBC Washington.

According to police, the incident began when Hassanen was walking to a late night prayer service at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque in Sterling on June 18 around 4 a.m.

She was with a group of more than a dozen friends when one of them got into a dispute with Torres, who was driving a car at the time, according to police. Officials say Torres chased the teens and eventually got out of his car and assaulted Hassanen. They say he hit her with a baseball bat, then put her into the car.

The announcement of the indictment was the first time that officials indicated that Torres also sexually assaulted Hassanen, whose body was found in a pond nearly 12 hours after the initial assault.

While canvassing the area, an officer spotted Torres “driving suspiciously in the area” and took him into custody. They obtained a murder warrant charging him for Hassanen’s murder. Torres later admitted his role in the crime and led detectives to Hassanen’s body, according to a search warrant obtained by The Post.

A preliminary hearing on Friday was temporarily delayed due to Hassanen’s parents’ outrage, according to The Post. Hassanen’s father yelled, “You killed my daughter!” and lunged toward Torres. Her mother threw a shoe in Torres’ direction. The proceedings resumed about after about an hour, at which point Torres waived the hearing and the case was sent to a grand jury.

A judge is set to schedule his trial date on Thursday. It’ll be the first death penalty case in Fairfax County since 2011, according to The Post.