Father forgives son’s killer, teams up to fight teen violence
- Azim Khamisa lost his son, Tariq, to a 1995 shooting
- Tony Hicks served 24 years for the crime
- Khamisa forgave Hicks, invited him to join violence prevention foundation
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(NewsNation) — In 1995, 14-year-old Tony Hicks became the youngest person in California to be charged and convicted as an adult with murder for killing 20-year-old San Diego pizza deliveryman Tariq Khamisa.
Today Hicks works with his victim’s father, Azim Khamisa, to help prevent teens from turning to violence.
“Sometimes in deep trauma there is a spot of clarity,” Azim Khamisa told NewsNation. “I realized that Tony was not my enemy.”
Nine months after his son’s death, Khamisa started the Tariq Khamisa Foundation, which tries to convince teens to turn away from gangs, crime and violence.
He also tried to convince Hicks to join the effort even as he remained behind bars. Hicks resisted for five years.
“I didn’t feel like I was ready,” Hicks said. “I didn’t feel like I deserved to be forgiven for what I had done.”
Eventually he did agree, and now sits on the foundation board. Hicks was released from prison in 2019 after serving 24 years for Tariq Khamisa’s death.
Azim Khamisa says he heard the arguments against forgiveness, and for hanging Hicks “from the highest pole. But how does that improve society?”
The Tariq Khamisa Foundation has reached an estimated two million teens in its 29 years of operation. Many of its events feature Azim Khamisa and Tony Hicks on stage “together in the spirit of healing to end youth violence,” as the foundation’s website states.
