A Family’s Struggle Against Mental Illness Ends Tragically

An extreme case of domestic violence led a Superior Court judge to order a man accused of killing his father to be held on $1 million bail, but not before undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. Defendant Mohammed H. Salem is accused of fatally stabbing his father, 69-year-old Hakem Salem, in an attack at the family home in Estate Lerkenlund on Tuesday morning.

According to information given to police who responded to the scene, the accused has suffered from mental illness for several years and was sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting his father in an earlier incident. Investigators also discovered an active restraining order issued by the court ordering Mohammed to stay away from his father at the time of Tuesday’s attack.

He is charged with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, assault with intent to commit murder, possession of and assault with a deadly weapon, criminal contempt of court, and brandishing a deadly weapon in a circumstance other than self-defense.