LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The 29-year-old woman accused of stabbing and killing her mother with shards of glass previously attempted to light a family member’s beard on fire during a previous incident, documents said.
Hend Bustami is charged with murdering Afaf Hussanen, 61, in October in a south valley neighborhood near Jones Boulevard and Cactus Avenue. Bustami and Hussanen lived in the home together, police said.
Bustami faces domestic battery and battery charges for a separate incident in July, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Thursday said.
On July 9, a person called police about a battery allegedly involving Bustami, her mother and another family member, documents said.
Bustami and the family member were arguing when Bustami “[kicked] her feet” and then slapped her mother, police said. Bustami then left the home, picked up a large stone, raised it and said to her mother, “Do you want me to hit you with this?”
During the argument, Bustami also allegedly tried to light a family member’s beard on fire with a lighter, police said. Bustami declined to answer officers’ phone calls to hear her side of the incident, documents said.
“Due to no corroborating witness, or signs of physical injury, probable cause was not established at this time,” an officer wrote in court documents.
As 8 News Now first reported, police said in August they arrested Bustami for reportedly skipping out on a restaurant tab and violating airport rules at Harry Reid International Airport. Bustami told officers at the time that she was under arrest because she was so good-looking, an arrest report said.
While officers were arresting her, Bustami said “that she was going to spit on all [the officers] and that officers were perverts and were trying to rape her because they [had] never seen anyone as good looking,” the report said. Prosecutors dropped the airport-reported charge last year.
A grand jury indicted Bustami on the murder charge in March, records showed.
During the grand jury hearing, prosecutors played the panel the 90-second 911 call police said Bustami made around 2:30 a.m. on Oct 26.
“I think I killed my mommy,” the woman, prosecutors said is Bustami, told a dispatcher.
Police believe Bustami broke a glass table over her mother’s head and then stabbed her with shards of glass, documents said. Photos shown to the grand jury include an image of the table accompanied by shards of glass.
California Highway Patrol troopers later located Bustami driving near Barstow, police said. While speaking to officers, Bustami, who police said was covered in blood, allegedly said she had killed her mother.
While speaking with investigators, Bustami said she and her mother had gotten into a fight before stabbing her with shards of glass. The grand jury transcripts indicate Bustami allegedly told a detective the fight was over cigarettes.
Las Vegas Metro police received 12 calls for service at the home in 2022 alone, records 8 News Now obtained. Most of these calls, seven, were for “family disturbances,” among others for reports of a missing person, civil matters and a suicide attempt.
Bustami has pleaded not guilty. A judge did not set a trial date at her last court hearing. A judge declined to set bail in the murder case, overriding bail set in the domestic battery case of $5,000.
