The funeral of Khalil Khalil, 19 years old, in Faraya (Kesrouan), on Feb. 3, 2025. (Cedit: Photo taken from the Faraya municipality's Facebook page)
The Mount Lebanon Criminal Court, presided over by Elie Helou, held its first hearing on Tuesday in the trial of the alleged perpetrators of the murder of Khalil Khalil, 19, who was killed in Faraya, Kesrouan, in February 2025 after an altercation over the right of way.
Initially scheduled for March 11, the session took place a day earlier in the courtroom of Roumieh prison.
In total, five people in custody appeared before the Criminal Court after being referred there last November by the Mount Lebanon indictment chamber, presided over by Dora al-Khazen, on charges of “intentional murder.”
According to L’Orient-Le Jour information, they all gave statements different from those they had previously made before security services and the judges who questioned them. These new statements, all consistent with one another, appeared to support the scenario of an accident, contradicting the version established by their earlier testimonies, which suggested that the young victim was intentionally killed after being chased.
According to the earlier investigation, Khalil was killed in the parking lot of a hotel owned by his father after being struck several times by a car driven by Jonathan Chamoun.
Chamoun was allegedly asked by his friend Romario Slim to chase the victim following a road dispute he had just had with him. According to the initial investigation, Slim used the phone of his girlfriend Luna Bteiche, who was with him on the night of the incident, to make the request.
The investigation also found that Khalil took refuge in the parking area and got out of his vehicle before Jonathan Chamoun, accompanied by his girlfriend Theresa Sahyoun, repeatedly hit him with the car. Sahyoun initially acknowledged the facts but later claimed before the Criminal Court that she did not realize what happened, according to a source close to the case.
To help the couple flee after the incident, Slim and Bteiche, along with Chamoun’s mother Sandra Dakkak and her partner Rabih Akiki, rushed to the scene. Seriously injured, Khalil died shortly afterward while being transported to the hospital.
Akiki is currently on the run. His brother Michel is suspected of helping the alleged perpetrators of the crime escape, before they were later arrested, and of attempting to conceal the car used in the act. He was arrested and later released on bail with an obligation to choose a legal address.
On Tuesday, he therefore appeared in court as a free man, while those who appeared in custody were Chamoun, Sahyoun, Slim, Bteiche and Sandra Dakkak.
The six defendants, questioned for four hours, said Slim did not ask Jonathan Chamoun to kill Khalil but simply to support him in what was meant to be a “show of force.” They claimed that Chamoun followed the victim to the hotel parking lot to slap him “twice.”
According to their account, once in the parking area Khalil suddenly stepped out of his car, leaving Chamoun no time to stop his own vehicle, which allegedly caused the victim’s death after a single impact.
Next hearing on June 23
At the end of the session, Judge Helou granted both parties a one week deadline to submit evidence and request the hearing of witnesses of their choice. The next session is scheduled for June 23 and is also expected to include closing arguments before the verdict is delivered at a later date.
This article originally appeared in French on L'Orient-Le Jour and was translated by Sahar Ghoussoub.
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