"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
A senseless crime indeed, and a tragedy that a mother of 6 would be murdered.
The news (and print media) headlines have devoted a good chunk of space to the relatives' claim that this must have been a 'hate crime' because she was wearing an islamic headscarf (hijab).
I call 'bull' on these accusations. We certainly aren't immune to racially directed crimes in this country -- but the 'M.O.', in this country, for one of these crimes is that a man gets 'whacked' - never a woman. Usually its some poor Sikh guy (because he wears a turban, and the typical moron who commits these crimes doesn't quite grasp the fact that Sikhs and muslims aren't the same), or some 'swarthy' looking fellow who may, or may not be, muslim.
When a muslim woman gets inexplicably murdered -- I'd first suspect an 'honor killing' (e.g., was this woman talking to a priest/pastor? or other such infraction), and would closely look at the extended family...
I'm probably out of line for voicing these speculations -- but the family's accusation that this was murder was a hate crime committed by someone who singled out a mother (with a 3 year old in tow) because she was wearing a headscarf -- is a venomous insult on our society, and I'm not going to shrug it off unless there is proof to back it up.
MarMema - No, I think you got the right Fremont. Fremont California has a very large Middle Eastern population (Afghani, Pakistani, Indian, Sikh, etc).