What is a father? Most people would describe a father as a parental figure that is seen as the protector, leader, and strength of a family. However this was not the case with Amina and Sarah Said’s father.
Warning ⚠️ this talks a lot about abuse, so if this is a sensitive topic to you, perhaps skip this one.
Amina and Sarah Said were two sisters from Texas and the daughters of Yaser Abel Said, an Egypt-born American, and Patricia Owens. Yaser came to America in 1983 on a student visa and later became a permanent citizen in 1997. Yaser married Patricia in February of 1987 when she was only 15 and he was 30. Amina was then born in 1989 and Sarah was born in 1990. Yaser and Patricia also had a son named Islam Said born in 1988, and Yaser had another daughter with a separate woman in 1987. Yaser later became a taxi driver in Texas.
Patricia, Amina, and Sarah all suffered some type of abuse at the hands of Yaser. Both Amina and Sarah reported to family and friends of the abuse they had to endure, which included sexual, verbal, and physical abuse. There were several instances where Amina came to school with bruises and even a busted lip and she openly admitted that her father had abused her but her mother refused to allow her to get medical help. She also reported to authorities that Yaser had “penetrated” her at least once.
Yaser would also spy on his daughters. He would secretly record and video tape them without their knowledge. Sarah eventually got a job, and her father would actually spy on her and record her while she was at work and proceed to punish her for being too friendly with customers. Amina stated that she was afraid to even use a public telephone because Yaser would know because “he gets everywhere, he knows everything”.
Yaser once even tried to set Amina up in an arranged marriage by taking her to Egypt when she was 16, but she refused. Amina eventually began a relationship with a boy named Joseph Moreno. She would often see Joseph while Yaser was out of the country, but she still had a fear that Yaser would still find out some way. One day Yaser found a note that Amina had written to Joseph, but Amina tried to cover it up by saying it was something she had written to her imaginary boyfriend. Yaser did not believe this and continued to dig for answers.
The family eventually relocated to Lewisville, Texas, which was about 20 miles away from where they previously lived. This prompted Amina to make plans with Joseph to runaway to Las Vegas and get eloped and start a new life together. Joseph then dropped out of school to save money for these plans. Joseph once stated that Yaser threatened to kill Amina quite often and on some level, she knew this was true. Yaser would beat Amina trying to get information about her relationship out of her, but she always refused and never even gave Yaser’s Joseph’s name.
Amina and Sarah decided to run away with their mother Patricia after Christmas in 2007. Amina’s boyfriend had relatives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so that is where they fled to. However, sometime later Patricia told her daughters that she wanted to drive to East Texas to visit her mother’s grave on December 31st, which was her mother’s supposed death date. Sarah went with hesitation, but Amina caught suspicion and flat out refused to go. Patricia and Sarah left, but Patricia eventually came back and started an argument with Amina trying to get her to leave. Patricia had insisted that her father had forgiven them and that it was okay for them to come back home. Amina reluctantly trusted this, which turned out to be a fatal choice for both sisters.
On January 1, 2008, Yaser took both his daughters to his taxi cab, telling them that he was taking them to eat somewhere. Patricia wanted to come along, but Yaser insisted that he wanted to take the girls by himself. He then drove the girls to Irving, where things took a turn.
Yaser shot both his daughters, Amina who was 18 and Sarah who was 17, to death in his taxi cab. Amina died immediately, but Sarah was able to stay alive long enough to call 911. She screamed to the operator, “Help, my dad shot me! I’m dying, I’m dying!” before she eventually succumbed to her wounds and passed too. The taxi was later discovered by another cab driver outside of the entrance of what is now known as the Omni Las Colinas Hotel.
It is suspected that the girls’ murders were some type of honor killing, which in certain cultures is the killing of a relative that is typically a young girl or woman in retaliation for her dishonoring their family in some way. It is believed that Yaser did this because he felt his daughters were becoming too “Americanized”, however, that is no exception for what he did to them.
Yaser went on the run after the murders of Amina and Sarah. At first, authorities believed he fled to Egypt, but later found that he was still in the United States. He was even reported to be seen driving a taxi in New York City. Patricia also filed for a divorce from Yaser in 2009. Yaser was able to avoid being captured for over 12 years. He became a suspect on the FBI’s top 10 Most Wanted List on December 4, 2014 with a $100,000 reward for anyone with information that could lead to his arrest.
On August 14, 2017, there was finally a break in the case! A maintenance worker at an apartment complex owned by none other than Yaser’s son, Islam, reported seeing a man inside Islam’s apartment matching Yaser’s description. Authorities got a search warrant and began a 24-hour surveillance on the property on Yaser’s neice Dalal Said’s, house in Justin, Texas, which Yaser was also reported to be seen at.
Finally, on August 26, 2020, S.W.A.T. agents captured Yaser Abel Said! Yaser was 63 at the time of his capture. That same day, the FBI also arrested and charged Islam and Yaser’s brother, Yassein, for helping him evade authority. Yaser is now held at the Dallas County North Tower Detention Facility and will be tried for “Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution” and “Capital Murder.”
I’ve been following this case for years. I always had hope that justice would be served for what Amina and Sarah had to endure. Their father was supposed to be the person to protect them, not harm them. The capture of Yaser is one of the good things to come out of 2020.
2022 Updates
Yasar Said was found guilty of capital murders after his trail in August 2022. He is now serving a life imprisonment sentence.
Resources-
TRUE CRIME REPORT 