Mom Comes Face to Face with Son's Savage Murderers...Forgives & HUGS Them!!

We’ve all done this—gone out for a quick fast food run—and maybe taken a chance doing so. Walking alone in the dark can be dangerous for anyone…but you really never expect it to take your life.

Suliman “Sam” Abdul-Mutakallim, a 39-year-old Navy veteran, was shot in the back of his head as he walked home carrying White Castle hamburgers for himself and his wife one night. He was never even given a chance to hand over his wallet and cell phone.

The innocent man was killed for less than $60 by two teenage robbers.

Most folks would say it’s best to just lock them up and throw away the key.

But (then) 17-year-old Valentino Pettis and 14-year-old Javon Coulter had an unexpected ally: Abdul-Mutakallim’s mother, Rukiye, 66. 

“I don’t hate you,” she told them. Wait. What?

In a stunning show of forgiveness, when Javon was convicted of the murder of her son, Rukiye hugged him in court. What’s more, she visits the young man in prison regularly in an effort to help him become a better person. Vengeance, she said, solves nothing. It won’t bring back her son. Rukiye thinks about it this way: They have been infected by a disease, but are young. “They can be cured.”

Valentino was not as receptive to Rukiye's forgiveness. He refused her offer of a hug.

The seemingly cold-blooded killers were caught on camera, shooting Sam from behind, stealing his wallet and leaving him face-down on the pavement, bleeding yet still clinging to life. Javon and Valentino then walked down the street, taking the food with them, too. Just awful.

In an interview with cincinnati.com, Rukiye remembered the agonizing moment Sam, the youngest of her three children, died at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. She and other family members were at his bedside, and she was holding his hand.

Her strong Muslim faith says that there is no goodbye, so Rukiye whispered to her son, “Until I see you again” as he slipped away. Then she kissed him.

When Rukiye hugged Javon in court, she also embraced the teen’s mother, Malyyka Bonner, because she wanted them to know she could see beyond the act that took her son's life. Wow, that's true grace.

Rukiye said her son's killers are children who have mothers, like herself. “Those young men – although they took my son’s life in the manner they did–we need to fight for them. Because they are going to come back out. And they will be older. But if they have no light, then this same disease is going to repeat itself and they are going to take another person’s child’s life and eventually their own,” Rukiye said. “And every mother’s heart must feel this.”

Javon was sentenced to 20 years, while Valentino got 14. So…chances are, they’ll be out and back on the street sooner than later.

Is murder unforgivable? Or do you think there’s hope for these two convicted killers? Weigh in here.