An 82-year-old woman wounded in a Boulder, Colo., firebombing attack on marchers who had gathered in early June to support Israeli hostages has died of her injuries, prosecutors announced on Monday.
That turned the crime into a possible death-penalty case against the Egyptian man charged with the attack after the authorities say he shouted pro-Palestinian slogans as he threw Molotov cocktails into the crowd. Many called the attack an act of antisemitism.
Prosecutors on Monday identified the victim as Karen Diamond, saying she had died of “severe injuries that she suffered in the attack.” Her death prompted the Boulder district attorney to file new charges of first-degree murder against the man accused of carrying out the attack, Mohamed Sabry Soliman.
“This horrific attack has now claimed the life of an innocent person who was beloved by her family and friends,” Michael Dougherty, the Boulder County district attorney, said in a statement.
Colorado abolished the death penalty in 2020, so the maximum state penalty the defendant could face if convicted of Ms. Diamond’s murder is life in prison. But federal prosecutors under President Trump, who carried out an aggressive spree of executions during his first term, could now seek the death penalty against Mr. Soliman.
A spokeswoman for the U. S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado declined to comment.
Federal officials have already charged Mr. Soliman, 45, with a hate crime in the June 1 attack, which left the Jewish community in Colorado reeling and called attention to growing antisemitic rhetoric and violence in the United States. He has pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges.
Ms. Diamond was part of a group of marchers who had been walking down the outdoor pedestrian Pearl Street Mall in Boulder as part of the group Run For Their Lives, which walks in support of Israeli hostages who have been held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. In a social media post, the group called her death “a heavy and heartbreaking moment.”
The defendant had said that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” prosecutors said in court papers.
The attacker yelled “Free Palestine” as he hurled two incendiary devices, and investigators said he had brought 16 additional devices to the event. He told investigators that he disguised himself as a gardener in order to get as close as possible to the marchers before attacking them.
Thirteen people were physically injured in the attack, including eight who were sent to the hospital with burns and other injuries. The Boulder district attorney’s office said on Monday that it had identified a total of 29 victims from the attack.
Jonathan Lev, director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center, told members of the group about Ms. Diamond’s death in an email on Monday, calling her “a cherished member of our community, someone whose warmth and generosity left a lasting impact on all who knew her.”
Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent for The Times who focuses on the politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school.
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