Hilal Sultan Kırgöz murder: Life imprisonment requested for Önder Lafçı

The hearing held at the Manisa 1st High Criminal Court was attended by the victim's mother Zeynep, father Veysel, and brother Enes Kırgöz, as well as the detained defendant Önder Lafçı and the lawyers for both parties.

Presenting his opinion at the hearing, the prosecutor alleged that the defendant Önder Lafçı had committed the crimes of intentional homicide against a woman, deprivation of liberty, and carrying an unlicensed firearm, and requested that the defendant be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.

'WHEN I GO TO HER GRAVE...'

The presiding judge granted the parties time to respond to the prosecutor's opinion and adjourned the hearing.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, mother Zeynep Kırgöz stated that she did not want other Hilals to die, saying, "I say let mothers not cry; I want Hilals not to die, not to be put into the black earth. I want the defendant to receive a proper sentence. Because when everyone goes to their loved ones during the holiday, I want to go to my daughter's grave and say, 'Don't be afraid, my daughter, we succeeded.' When my daughter was first shot, she had said to me, 'We couldn't succeed, Mom.' I want to go to her grave and say, 'Mom, we succeeded, many people helped us, we succeeded.'"

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

On September 6, 2022, university student Hilal Sultan Kırgöz was forced into a light commercial vehicle and attempted to be abducted by driving instructor Önder Lafçı, who was described as being "obsessively fixated" on her. The young woman resisted, but was beaten by the suspect, who then held a gun to her head.

A scuffle broke out when neighborhood residents intervened against the attacker; the suspect chased the young woman as she tried to escape and then shot her in the back with a handgun.

The young woman was taken to the hospital and discharged on September 26 to continue her treatment at home. The bullet in the back of the young woman, whose spinal cord was damaged in the attack and who was paralyzed from the waist down, was removed during a surgery performed at a private hospital in the Şehzadeler district.

Kırgöz, who fell ill on October 24 after the bullet was removed, could not be saved despite medical intervention at the hospital where she was taken.

After the incident, the suspect escaped by boarding the back of a passing pickup truck and was captured by police teams one day later at a vineyard house where he was hiding in the Buca district of İzmir.

Defendant Önder Lafçı, against whom three separate indictments were prepared for "stalking," "threats," and "intentional homicide" against the young woman, had previously been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for "stalking" and 3 years in prison for "threats."

A separate case was also opened against Lafçı for "attempted intentional homicide" regarding the incident on the day of the crime, when he pointed a gun at and pulled the trigger on Beyti Ç., a neighborhood resident who was trying to save the young woman.

News Source: AA