Mohammed Almaru sentenced to 55 years for murder of 17-year-old daughter, Mia Maro - CBS Chicago

By Todd Feurer, Marissa Perlman

October 10, 2024 / 1:23 PM CDT / CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Tinley Park man has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for beating his 17-year-old daughter to death days before her high school graduation in 2022.

Mohammed Almaru, 44, was found guilty of first-degree murder in August in the killing of his daughter, Mia Maro.

On Monday, a judge sentenced Almaru to 55 years in prison. He will get credit for the two-plus years he's already spent in custody, but must serve 100% of his term, meaning he will be 97 years old before he is eligible for release.

After he was sentenced, Almaru's defense attorneys motions seeking a new trial and asking the judge to reconsider his sentence, but both were denied.

Cook County prosecutors said Almaru beat Maro to death with a metal pole and a rubber mallet.

Police have said officers responded to the family's home on May 1, 2022, and found Maro dead in the lower level of the home.

Her father was found with superficial self-inflicted wounds to his wrist and throat, and he also had ingested pills in an apparent suicide attempt.

Police said it was Maro's aunt who first showed up to her house and found Mia dead in the basement of the home, after days of not being in touch with her.

Maro's mother was the only other person home at the time, but was unable to step in to protect her, and her family said the tragedy happened without warning.

But court documents shed a sickening picture of a web of abuse in the days leading up to Maro's death.

Less than a week before Maro was killed, she sent a text message to her aunt after she got into an accident in her dad's car, according to the charging documents in the case. Maro wrote she was "afraid he was going to kill" her.

On the day Maro was killed, Almaru texted his son, saying "Mia was hiding things from him and he had to beat the information out of her," charging documents said.

Police have declined to speculate if there had been a history of physical abuse before Maro's death, saying the only previous call to the house involved a medical issue with Maro's mother.

At the time of her death, Maro was a senior at Victor J. Andrew High School, just days away from graduating.

Maro was known to be good to others, goofy – and at her core, a caretaker.

"Whenever you need her, like she would always be there," said cousin Jianna Jaroch.

Maro did that for her mother, who suffered a traumatic brain injury three years earlier, leaving her bedridden. At the age of 14, Maro stepped up to help care for her mom.

Todd Feurer is a web producer for CBS Chicago. He has previously written for WBBM Newsradio, WUIS-FM and the New City News Service.

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