BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The last time Khadija Ahidid saw her son, he came to breakfast in 2021 looking “homeless” with big hair so she offered to give him $20 so he could go get a shave or a haircut that day. Hours later, he shot and killed 10 people at a supermarket in the college town of Boulder.
She saw Ahmad Alissa for the first time since then during his murder trial on Monday, saying repeatedly that her son, who was diagnosed after the shooting with schizophrenia, was sick. When one of Alissa’s lawyers, Kathryn Herold, was introducing her to the jury, Herold asked how she knew Alissa. Ahidid responded “How can I know him? He is sick,” she said through an Arabic interpreter in her first public comments about her son and the shooting.
Alissa, who emigrated from Syria with his family as a child, began acting strangely in 2019, believing he was being followed by the FBI, talking to himself and isolating from the rest of the family, Ahidid said. His condition declined after he got Covid several months before the shooting, she said, adding he also became “fat” and stopped showering as much.
There was no record of Alissa being treated for mental illness before the shooting. After the shooting, his family later reported that he had been acting in strange ways, like breaking a car key fob and putting tape over a laptop camera because he thought the devices were being used to track him. Some relatives thought he could be possessed by an evil spirit, or djinn, according to the defense.
No one, including Alissa’s lawyers, disputes he was the shooter. Alissa has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting. The defense says he should be found not guilty because he was legally insane and not able to tell the difference between right and wrong at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors and forensic psychologists who evaluated him for the court say that, while mentally ill, Alissa knew what he was doing when he launched the attack. They point to the planning and research he did to prepare for it and his fear that he could end up in jail afterward to show that Alissa knew what he was doing was wrong.
Alissa mostly looked down as his mother testified and photographs of him as a happy toddler and a teenager at the beach were shown on screen. There was no obvious exchange between mother and son in court but Alissa dabbed his eyes with a tissue after she left.
The psychiatrist in charge of Alissa's treatment at the state mental hospital testified earlier in the day that Alissa refused to accept visitors during his over two year stay there.
When questioned by District Attorney Michael Dougherty, Ahidid said her son did not tell her what he was planning to do the day of the shooting.
She said she thought a large package containing a rifle that Alissa came home with shortly before the shooting may have been a piano.
“I swear to God we didn’t know what was inside that package,” she said.
Dougherty pointed out that she had told investigators soon after the shooting that she thought it could be a violin.
After being reminded of a previous statement to police, Ahidid acknowledged that she had heard a banging sound in the house and one of her other sons said that Alissa had a gun that had jammed. Alissa said he would return it, she testified.
She indicated that no one in the extended family that lived together in the home followed up to make sure, saying “everyone has their own job.”
“No one is free for anyone,” she said.
FILE - Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in March 2021, is led into a courtroom for a hearing, Sept. 7, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a game-tying, three-run homer with two outs in the second inning of his highly anticipated playoff debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.
After flying out in the first, the Japanese superstar sent a 2-1 pitch from Dylan Cease into right field, a 372-foot shot that had the sellout crowd of 53,028 on its feet. The Dodgers went on to a 7-5 victory over the team they had battled down to the wire before winning their 11th NL West title in 12 years.
Ohtani finished 2 for 5, with three RBIs, two runs scored and two strikeouts as 88-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax looked on from behind home plate.
The Padres had taken a 3-0 lead in the first off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani's countryman who is also making his postseason debut in the National League Division Series.
Ohtani, who hit .310 in the regular season, scored Will Smith, who walked, and Gavin Lux, who singled, to make it 3-3.
San Diego went ahead 5-3 before the Dodgers rallied with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ohtani had a broken-bat single and later scored, along with Mookie Betts, on Teoscar Hernández's single that gave the Dodgers their first lead, 6-5.
Ohtani is getting his first chance on the October playoff stage after spending the last six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or made the postseason during his tenure.
Ohtani signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers in December. He didn’t pitch this season while rehabbing from a second elbow surgery he had a year ago. That allowed him to focus on his offense, and he exploded, becoming Major League Baseball's first player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.
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Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani reacts as he rounds first base following his three-run home run during the second inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani watches his three-run home run during the second inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat as he singles during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with manager Dave Roberts, middle right, after Ohtani scored on a single by Teoscar Hernández during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, middle, celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani reacts after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani runs from second to third base during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani flies out against the San Diego Padres during the first inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani (17) bumps fists with teammates before Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, right, waits for the start of Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani walks back to the dugout before Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani flies out against the San Diego Padres during the first inning in Game 1 of baseball's NL Division Series Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
