TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Prosecutors charged a Tulsa man on Tuesday with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime in the killing of his Lebanese neighbor – a culmination of what authorities said was the man’s violent feud with the family that spanned several years and included a regular barrage of racial insults and personal confrontations.
Stanley Majors, 61, was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and threatening a violent act in the Aug. 12 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara. The hate crime charge is a misdemeanor under Oklahoma law and accuses Majors of intimidating and harassing Jabara and his mother, Haifa Jabara, “because of race, color, religion, ancestry and national origin,” according to court papers filed Tuesday by prosecutors.
“The death of Khalid Jabara is tragic and our sympathies are with his family,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement Tuesday. Majors is scheduled for arraignment in district court on Wednesday. A message left for Majors’ attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Majors spent years in conflict with the Jabara family, often hurling epithets such as “filthy Lebanese,” ”dirty Arabs” and “Moo-slems” at his next-door neighbors, authorities said. The Jabaras are actually Christian.
Lebanese immigrants have long been a visible part of the Oklahoma population, with many making their living as merchants, restaurateurs and grocers.