Tulsa man charged with hate crime after neighbor’s murder

The Tulsa County District Attorney filed First-Degree Murder charges on Tuesday against 61-year-old Stanley Vernon Majors.

The suspect and the victim, 37-year-old Khalid Jabara, have a long history with police.

Jabara was a Christian from Lebanon. His family says they were terrorized by Majors and lived in fear for years.

The victim was shot and killed in his neighborhood near 91^st and Memorial on August 12^th.

"The death of Khalid Jabara is tragic and our sympathies are with his family, “said District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler.

Majors and his husband lived next door to the Jabara family.

Police say Majors referred to the Jabara family as "filthy Lebanese," `'dirty Arabs" and "Moo-slems."

Majors was also charged with felony Possession of a Firearm After Former Conviction of a Felony, and two misdemeanors, Malicious Intimidation and Harassment, and Threatening a Violent Act.

The hate crime charge is a misdemeanor.

Majors also allegedly ran over Jabara’s mother with a car.

Police were called to the suspect’s home minutes before the murder. Majors refused to answer the door. Officers say they left due to a lack of probable cause.

Read the full statement from the family below:

As we continue to struggle with our pain and loss, we were heartened to be informed by the district attorney that Stanley Vernon Majors has been charged with murder in the first degree, possession of a firearm after former conviction of a felony, malicious intimidation or harassment, and threatening an act of violence. We are encouraged that the government is marshaling the full weight of law to respond appropriately to the heinous crime inflicted upon us.

Our parents raised us to be patriotic Americans, proud of our Lebanese heritage and our community's contributions to our country. In charging Majors with a hate crime in addition to first degree murder, the
district attorney's office is making a much-needed and powerful statement that hatred and violence based on race, color, religion, ancestry, and national origin has no place in our society. It is an appropriate moment in our local and national conversation for a reassertion of the foundational and quintessentially American values of equality and tolerance.

Our anguish is compounded because for many years we diligently pursued every available legal means to protect ourselves and others from someone who posed a constant threat of potential violence, and who eventually proved a fatal menace. Despite the overwhelming evidence we marshalled of a palpable threat of danger and hate facing us on a daily basis, the existing legal mechanisms proved insufficient to protect our beloved Khalid and our mother. We will therefore continue to not only advocate for justice for Khalid, but also to call for reform of the law enforcement and justice systems so that no other family has to suffer such imaginable, and, given the circumstances almost certainly preventable, loss and pain.