Malcolm X’s Daughter Pleads Not Guilty to Plotting Murder
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Qubilah Bahiyah Shabazz, the daughter of slain black leader Malcolm X, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of attempting to hire a hit man to murder Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Wearing a black shawl over her cornrow braids, Shabazz, 34, appeared somber and spoke softly in entering her plea before federal magistrate Judge Franklin L. Noel, who set a trial date of March 27. If convicted, she could face up to 90 years in prison and $2.25 million in fines.
Joining the local public defender’s office on Shabazz’s defense team were William M. Kunstler, the flamboyant, left-wing civil rights lawyer who once represented Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and former Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton, a longtime friend of Malcolm X’s family.
The man allegedly approached about the murder is Michael Kevin Fitzpatrick, her former high school classmate in New York.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
