Prince William man sentenced to 20 years for murdering ex-girlfriend

A Prince William County man who admitted murdering his ex-girlfriend near her Vienna home last year was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Sayed Hashemi, a used-car salesman who also went by the name Ehsan Amin, pleaded guilty in June to fatally stabbing Homaira Rahman, 25, who worked in the banking business and was popular in the Afghan American community. The two had dated and then broken up, and Rahman had concealed the relationship from her parents, Hashemi's attorney said.

But on July 3, 2008, Hashemi apparently threatened to reveal the relationship to Rahman's parents, so Rahman drove to meet him at her house on Litwalton Court. The pair then drove to a cul-de-sac on Malraux Drive, also in Vienna. Hashemi claimed that Rahman then attacked him with scissors and that he took the scissors away from her, his attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, said.

Hashemi stabbed Rahman 91 times. Her body was not found until the next day.

In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to reduce a first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder and ask for no more than 20 years in prison. Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Bruce White imposed the full 20 years.

Hashemi, now 31, apologized for the killing in court and said he prayed for Rahman every day.

Rahman's family has established the Homaira Rahman Foundation to raise money for child refugees of the war in Afghanistan, family lawyer Brian Drummond said. The plight of Afghan orphans was a cause that Rahman worked for, Drummond said. "Everyone in the Afghan community knew her because she was a shining star."

A Web site for the foundation has been established at www.hrfcares.org.