SAN FRANCISCO—A San Francisco resident is demanding police in Chapel Hill, North Carolina perform a hate crime investigation in the murder of her brother and his family.

Suzanne Barakat, a physician at San Francisco General Hospital, claims her brother Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Sala were gunned-down in act of hatred against the Muslim people.

Hate crime
The family was gunned-down following an alleged Dispute over parking.

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, currently faces three charges of first degree murder for allegedly killing the trio on February 10 in Chapel Hill.

Investigators are studying the circumstances behind the shooting, which reportedly followed a heated argument concerning parking spaces. If racial motives are discovered, the killing could be labeled a hate crime.

Both the deceased and the accused lived in the same apartment complex.

A candlelight vigil was held in San Francisco on Thursday evening in the Memorial Garden of the Family Health Center to honor the victims.