Black Arizona Teen Stabbed To Death By White Man Who Felt 'Threatened' By Rap Music

Police in Arizona arrested a man for the fatal stabbing of a black 17-year-old at a convenience store Thursday morning because the teen's rap music made him feel "unsafe."

The incident occurred at 1:45 a.m. at a Circle K store in Peoria, Arizona. Elijah Al-Amin had gotten off of work late Wednesday night and had visited his girlfriend before stopping at the store on his way home when he encountered Michael Paul Adams.

Adams, 27, who saw Al-Amin in the store and could hear the music, reportedly came from behind Al-Amin and stabbed him in the throat. Adams then fled the scene and authorities were called to help Al-Amin.

When the police arrived, Al-Amin was lying by a gas pump with one witness applying pressure to his stab wound. Emergency personnel rushed Al-Amin to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 a.m.

Police located Adams shortly afterwards and while he walking away from the store. Officers noticed blood on his arm, hand and foot. Adams was immediately taken into custody after a pocket knife was found in his pocket.

In subsequent filings, Adams, who is white, admitted that Al-Amin hadn’t done “anything to threaten” him. He also said that Al-Amin’s “rap music made him feel unsafe because in the past, he was attacked by people who listened to that music genre.” Because of this alleged assault, Adams felt he needed to act to “protect himself and the community from the victim.”

The Arizona Department of Corrections revealed that Adams had been released from prison two days earlier on mental health probation and that he wasn't designated as seriously mentally ill.

“They released him to the streets with no holdover meds, no way to care for himself,” Jacie Cotterell, an attorney who previously represented Adams, told AZ Family. “This is a disabled person. And he’s been released into the world and left to fend for himself. And two days later, this is where we are.”

Al-Amin's mother feels that Adams and his attorney are hiding behind a mental illness defense.

"There's no excuse for this," Serena Rides, Al-Amin's mother, told FOX10. "There's not at all, there's no excuse. I don't care that somebody's hiding behind mental illness, there's no excuse."

Attorney Kristen Clarke and the Human Rights Campaign also disagreed with Cotterell's stance and took to Twitter to voice their belief that it was a hate crime.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a 2020 presidential candidate, discussed the incident on Twitter.

Adams was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and is being held at the Maricopa County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 15.

Funeral services were held for Al-Amin on Monday.