Malikah Shabazz Extradited to New York
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| Malikah Shabazz Photo courtesy of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office |
Youngest daughter of slain civil rights activist, Malcolm X, arrested in Mars Hill, NC.
Staff Reports
A quirky twist of fate led to the arrest of the youngest daughter of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X, just days before the 46th anniversary of her father’s assassination.
Malikah Shabazz, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, had just recently moved to Madison County, North Carolina, to find a peaceful place to live. Investigators, responding to a misleading report of truancy at the Mars Hill home where Shabazz was residing, were searching for a previous resident.
Investigators and social workers were prompted to investigate a truancy when a call came in to say that a child housed at the residence was not attending school. Shabazz’s thirteen-year-old daughter was inside the home being properly home-schooled. Shabazz, who holds a Ph.D in Educational Administration and Human Development, has always homeschooled her daughter.
At the scene, Madison County sheriff’s officers said Shabazz did not
give her full name, but learned of her identify, and discovered she had
outstanding warrants. Shabazz was then arrested on charges of stolen
property, grand larceny, forgery, and criminal possession of forged
instruments, against Khaula Bakr, the widow of her father’s bodyguard,
who was with Malcolm X when he was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom
in Manhattan, NY in 1965.
Sean Devereux, Asheville attorney for Malikah Shabzz said the warrants
appear to be from 2009, but that Shabazz had never been served with
papers. Queens, New York District Attorney Richard Brown stated they
were notified of the charges against Shabazz, but because of her
transient lifestyle the warrants could not be issued.
“The defendant is accused of stealing not only a substantial amount of
money from a once-close family friend but her personal identity, as
well,” Brown said. “The alleged theft represents a shameful betrayal of
the friendship that existed between the two families.” After being held
without bond, Malikah Shabazz was turned over to the state of New York
on March 1st. Shabazz’z 13-year-old daughter is in the custody of a
local Department of Social Services.
“It was distressing on the 46th anniversary of her father’s
assassination to be coming in the courtroom in shackles,” said her then
lawyer, Sean Devereux.
Malikah Shabazz is embroiled in a separate and ongoing legal dispute
with her five sisters over their parents’ $1.4 million estate.
