A Las Vegas woman who once said she was too ‘pretty’ to be arrested will head to prison for at least 15 years after admitting to the violent murder of her mom. The judgment comes three months after Hend Bustami, now 29, pleaded ‘guilty but mentally ill’ to a second-degree murder with a deadly weapon charge for the October 2022 killing of 61-year-old Afaf Hussanen.
She will now spend the next 15 years in prison, after telling officers that an argument over cigarettes escalated to the point where she hit her mom over the head with an end table made of glass and stabbed her with a piece that broke off. When officers descended on her, she pretested she was too ‘pretty’ to be arrested, labeling the lawmen as ‘perverts’ who were ‘trying to rape her, because they never seen anyone as good looking.’
About a month before the killings, Bustami made headlines for an entirely different reason an arrest at Harry Reid International Airport after she skipped out on a bill at an airport Chili’s restaurant. Bustami, now 29, pleaded ‘guilty but mentally ill’ to the charge for second-degree murder with a deadly weapon Thursday, for the October 2022 killing of 61-year-old Afaf Hussanen.
‘Do you need police, fire, or medical?’ the 911 dispatcher is heard asking the then 28-year-old an audio recording of her 911 call the night in question, which prosecutors played during Bustami’s grand jury hearing. ‘Because I did. I murdered her,’ Bustami calmly states, five months before being indicted on the murder charge. ‘How did you do that?’ the dispatcher asks – to which Bustami replies ‘I broke the table on her head.’
Bustami proceeds to give the dispatcher her mother’s address a home they shared in the south Vegas valley near Jones Boulevard and Cactus Avenue before being asked why she thinks she ‘killed her mommy.’ The convicted killer goes on to reiterate to the dispatcher how she was still at her mother’s house, once again confirming the address. ‘I broke the table on her head,’ Bustami explains. ‘I broke the table on her head and I cut her neck off.’
The murder took place at this home they shared in the south Vegas valley near Jones Boulevard and Cactus Avenue, following an argument the suspect admitted was ‘over cigarettes’ .
She was subsequently arrested for the second time in a month, after her allegedly drunk tirade and dine-and-dash at the airport restaurant. Though Bustami was found mentally competent to stand trial, her public defender argued that a psychologist ‘found her experiencing “intermittent exacerbations of psychosis,” and “in need of continuing psychiatric treatment,”‘ court records said.
Police would quickly descend on the scene, and California Highway cops would later locate Bustami driving aimlessly some 150 miles away near Barstow, police said. While speaking to officers, Bustami was covered in blood, and allegedly again admitted to the killing. At first, she pleaded not guilty, before using her lawyer’s argument to secure a plea deal that would see her pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder – meaning she was mentally ill at the time of the offense.
The deal also saw her plead guilty for a slew of other offenses for which she had prior felony convictions including charges of burglary, home invasion, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, and sale of a controlled substance.
Judge Jacqueline Bluth on Tuesday hit Bustami with 15-year-to-life sentence, a court spokesperson confirmed before revealing that Bustami will be up for parole in 2037 with credit for time served. In dishing out her ruling, Bluth said Bustami’s mental health history includes diagnoses for several types of psychoses and disorders, and that she will have the option to receive mental health treatment while incarcerated.
As a result, Judge Jacqueline Bluth on Tuesday hit Bustami with 15-year-to-life sentence, a court spokesperson confirmed before revealing that Bustami will be up for parole in 2037 with credit for time served. As part of her sentence, Bustami will also be required to receive medical care for mental illness, due to the psychologist’s diagnosis and her apparent history of outbursts.
