Tuesday, August 9, 2022

The Murders of Amina & Sarah Said

Amina and Sarah Said (left), Yaser Said (right)

Teenage sisters Amina Said (18) and Sarah Said (17) were murdered by their father Yaser Said on January 1st, 2008. The Saids are an Egyptian family, but Amina and Sarah grew up in Irving, Texas. It is believed that Yaser murdered his daughters because he felt they had dishonored their family by refusing to adhere to the traditional standards of their Egyptian culture.

The Said Family.


An abusive household.

Yaser was reportedly abusive towards both of his daughters and his wife Patricia “Tissie” Said for many years. Amina and Sarah had both confided in their friends about the abuse. At one point, Sarah told her friend “He treats me like a whore.” Additionally, both girls would often show up to school with several bruises. On one occasion, Amina came to school with a split lip. She informed her friends that her father had caused her injuries, and her mother refused to let her seek medical attention. 

Yaser also often spied on his daughters–he would video or audio tape them without their knowledge. The girls were afraid to use public telephones because they feared that Yaser would somehow be listening in on their conversation. When Sarah got a job at a local convenience store, Yaser would videotape her at work and then punish her for smiling too much at the customers. There are also allegations of Yaser behaving inappropriately with both of his daughters, despite their obvious discomfort. 

Controlling relationships.

When Amina was 16, Yaser took her to Egypt and attempted to arrange a marriage between her and a much older friend of his. Amina rejected the marriage. Though Yaser was not happy about this, they returned to the United States where Yaser continued to look for other potential men to marry his daughters.

Amina began to date Joseph Moreno- a boy her age who she met in Tae Kwon Do classes. However, she was very scared that Yaser would find out about the relationship. She would send Joseph code words to let him know to stop texting/calling her in case Yaser was going to look through her phone. When Yaser asked, Amina denied having a boyfriend, but Yaser still continued to try and uncover the relationship.


When that failed, Yaser decided to move his family 60 miles away to Lewisville, Texas. This prompted Amina and Sarah to start planning an escape.

A brief escape.

Joseph's family actually offered to help not only Amina, but Sarah and their mother Tissie as well. Around Christmas 2007, Amina, Sarah and Tissie all ran away to Tulsa, Oklahoma to stay with Joseph's relatives. However, it is believed that Tissie stayed in contact with Yaser the entire time. On December 31st, 2007, Tissie told Amina and Sarah that it was the anniversary of her mother’s death, and she wanted to bring the girls to East Texas to put flowers on her grave. 

The fateful return.

Sarah reluctantly agreed to go with her mother, while Amina refused. Eventually, though, Tissie told Amina that her father had forgiven her and wanted both her and Sarah to come home. Amina eventually gave in and went with her mother and sister.

The following day, Yaser took Amina and Sarah to the cab he drove and told them he wanted to take them out to eat. Yaser told Tissie to stay at home because he wanted to talk to his daughters alone. He then drove the girls back to Irving, Texas, where he shot them both inside the car. Amina died instantly, while Sarah managed to call 911. She was heard on the line saying, “Help, my dad shot me! I’m dying!” Unfortunately, Sarah died before the paramedics could arrive.

Fleeing the scene.

Yaser fled the scene after shooting his daughters. He evaded authorities for 12 years before he was finally captured in August 2020.

Authorities worked tirelessly to locate him over the years. There were no records of him flying out of the country. At one point, the FBI believed that Yaser was working as a cab driver in New York City. In 2014, Yaser was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. A $100,000 reward was put in place for any information that would lead to his arrest.

Capture and conviction.

On August 26th, 2020, authorities tracked down Yaser Said in Justin, Texas. He was arrested and charged with capital murder for the deaths of his daughters. Amina and Sarah's brother was charged with aiding a fugitive. He was sentenced to 10 years for those charges.

In August 2022, Yaser went to trial. He testified in his own defense, saying that he was a victim of a smear campaign by the media. Jurors deliberated for about 3 hours before finding him guilty.

Yaser’s ex-wife/the girl’s mother gave a victim impact statement, calling Yaser the devil who killed their daughters. She also accused him of manipulating their son, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence for helping Yaser hide for over a decade. Yaser was visibly angry as his ex-wife spoke, and the judge had to tell his attorneys to keep him quiet.

Yaser was given an automatic life sentence. 

4 comments:

  1. That mother should have NEVER taken those girls back to Texas. She shares in the blame of their deaths.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally agree with you. The mother was a monster - she is every bit as culpable and the father.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 'Tissie' is as much an accomplice as the killer's brother and son.

    ReplyDelete