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Corner of Ocean and Gates Avenues in Jersey City. Murder suspect Yusuf Ibrahim lived near the intersection before moving out more than two years ago. Photo taken on February 12, 2013.
(Photo by Michael Dempsey/The Jersey Journal)
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A Jersey City woman who once lived with the man charged with killing and decapitating two Jersey City men said yesterday that the man she knew could never have committed such a crime.
“They are describing him as a monster, but that’s not how I’ve known him,” said Emma Abdelrehim, who described herself as a close family friend of Yusuf Ibrahim, 27, and not a girlfriend.
Yusuf Ibrahim, 27, of Jersey City, is a suspect in the double murder and decapitation of two men whose bodies were found in a shallow grave in South Jersey, authorities said.
“He was an awesome person, awesome with kids, and he would never harm anyone, not even an animal,” Abdelrehim said. “What I saw on TV and what I read I could not believe. That is not his character, and I don’t think he has done such a crime.”
Abdelrehim said she lived with Ibrahim on Ocean Avenue for a few years, but he moved out more than two years ago and she hasn’t seen him in a long time.
“He was homeless really (after moving out),” Abdelrehim said. “He went from one town to another sleeping all over the place.” Asked if she considered Ibrahim to be a troubled person, Abdelrehim thought for a moment and said: “No, he’s not a troubled person, but this was three years ago. People do change.”
Abdelrehim said Ibrahim came to the United States from Egypt when he was a child and worked as a waiter, construction worker and at other jobs.
“When I opened my door to him there was no violence, nothing that would make you suspect he would harm anyone . . . I never saw him with a gun or with any weapon,” said Abdelrehim. “Maybe it was the victims’ gun. Maybe it was self-defense.”
She described Ibrahim as being Muslim but not particularly religious. He liked to play basketball, was “a grown man, but a kid in spirit,” and he could always bring a smile to a person’s face, she said.
“It’s sad to know somebody so close to home that’s involved in this thing,” Abdelrehim said.