Anas Muhammad was 17 when he attacked girl outside her apartment
A jury on Wednesday found Anas Muhammad guilty of first-degree murder in the 2022 killing of 16-year-old Paola Pagan-Malave, who was attacked while walking to her school bus stop near her Kissimmee apartment.
Muhammad, now 21, was 17 years old at the time of the killing but was prosecuted as an adult. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9.
The verdict, which took the jury just 90 minutes to reach, comes nearly four years after Paola was killed at the Kensington Apartments on Kendrick Drive on the morning of Nov. 17, 2022. According to investigators, Paola left her apartment around 6:15 a.m. to walk to her bus stop. Minutes later, her mother heard a commotion outside and found her daughter just inside the apartment doorway suffering from stab wounds to her neck. She was transported to HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, where she later died.
Detectives interviewed Muhammad after friends identified him as someone who had previously known the victim. During an interview at his apartment, Muhammad initially told investigators he had not spoken to Paola in about two years and denied any involvement in her death.
However, after detectives confronted him with inconsistencies in his account, Muhammad put out his hands and asked to be handcuffed before asking, "How much time would I get for murder?" according to the arrest affidavit. He then confessed to waiting near the stairwell outside Paola's apartment before attacking her as she walked to school. He later directed investigators to a drainage area where he said he had discarded the knife, clothing and other evidence after the attack.
During a later interview, Muhammad told detectives he believed the victim "would be an easy target" and said that if someone else had exited the breezeway instead, he would have attacked that person. According to the arrest affidavit, he also admitted he began planning the attack the day before the killing.
State Attorney Monique Worrell said the jury's verdict holds Muhammad accountable for taking the teenager's life.
"This verdict holds the defendant accountable for taking the life of 16-year-old Paola Pagan-Malave, whose future was stolen in an act of unimaginable violence," Worrell said in a statement.
"While today's verdict delivers justice, it also serves as a heartbreaking reminder that two families have lost their children. Paola's family continues to grieve the daughter they loved, and another young life has been forever defined by a senseless and irreversible decision. Our hearts remain with everyone impacted by this tragedy, and we hope today's outcome brings Paola's loved ones a measure of peace and closure."
