East Jerusalem man charged over murder of four-year-old daughter, attempted murder of brother

State prosecutors filed an indictment against Ammar Karami, a resident of East Jerusalem, accused of murdering his four-year-old daughter earlier this month.

Though he was indicted Wednesday, Karami’s identity is cleared for publication this morning after the Jerusalem District Court rejected his lawyer’s request to extend a gag order on his name and identifying details.

Karami was arrested on suspicion of murdering his four-year-old daughter Janna, then attempting to kill his brother, in his parents’ home in East Jerusalem’s Sur Baher neighborhood. He is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder.

The defendant killed his daughter late at night on July 5, according to the indictment. He took the four-year-old girl from where she was sleeping next to her grandmother and laid her on a mattress in the living room. Karami then took a long knife from the house, carried her outside to the yard, and slit her throat with the blade. After murdering his daughter, he covered her body in a blanket and returned it to the mattress.

He also tried to kill his brother later that same night by stabbing him in the stomach while he slept in another room.

Karami’s detention has been extended by another week. He will undergo psychological examination to determine whether he suffered a psychotic break the night of the murder, the Kan public broadcaster reports.