A Cobb County Grand Jury has indicted a restaurant owner accused in a November shooting death, the District Attorney said Friday.
Raouf Sanad, 63, of Alpharetta, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the death of Wael Ali on Nov. 1, DA Vic Reynolds said.
Ali, 25, was in the kitchen of the Laziza restaurant on the Marietta Square showing a gun he owned to Sanad, a close friend and the restaurant's owner, when he was accidentally shot in the neck, according to police. Investigators believe Sanad pointed the gun at Ali and pulled the trigger.
Ali died at the scene and Sanad was arrested and booked into the Cobb County jail, where he has remained since. Bond was set at $20,000 for Sanad, but he remains jailed due to an immigration hold, Reynolds said.
Ali was previously charged with killing his twin brother but was never convicted.
Ali was freed in 2012 after being arrested, charged and tried for the death of his twin brother in Maryland in 2007, The Baltimore Sun reported. In March 2012, a 12-member jury failed to reach a verdict after 18 hours of deliberation following Ali's eight-day trial and a judge declared a mistrial, the newspaper reported.
In August 2007, the body of Wael’s twin, 19-year-old Wasel Ali, was found in a wooded area, according to the report. Wasel Ali had suffered a neck injury and died of asphyxiation. Wael Ali was arrested and charged with murder in September 2011. He was taken into custody in Cobb County and extradited to Maryland.
An arraignment date for Sanad has not yet been set.
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