Where is Muhammad Altantawi now? Details explored ahead of Dateline NBC

Muhammad Altantawi is a Michigan man who was convicted of the 2017 murder of his mother, Nada Huranieh and was sentenced to 35 to 60 years in prison. Atlantawi is currently imprisoned and will continue to serve time although the crime was committed when he was only 16 years old.

Dateline NBC season 32 episode 44 explores the above case. It hits the screens on September 20 at 10/9c.

Atlantawi allegedly used a toxin-coated cloth to smother his mother before he threw her from their second-story window to stage her fall as an accident. Now 20, Muhammad was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder following a March 2022 trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.

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The evidence that sealed Muhammad Altantawi's fate

Evidence presented by the state led to the conviction of Muhammad. Footage from security cameras inside the family's 10,000-square-foot Farmington Hills home showed a shadowed figure pushing his mother's lifeless body from a bathroom to a window. He tried to throw her out so it would look like a fall when police found her, then dragged the body back into the bathroom and closed the curtains.

Combined with phone records, showing early morning calls between Muhammad and his father, Bassel Altantawi, the footage painted a grim picture of what led to Nada Huranieh's death. The calls, made around 4:30 a.m., were reportedly only minutes before her body was discovered, heightening suspicion that Muhammad had conspired with his father to commit the murder.

Furthermore, Nada Huranieh, a noted athlete, did not sustain any defensive wounds. Prosecutors alleged she was smothered, perhaps with a cloth saturated with toxin, and then transferred. There was no struggle in this crime scene put together with premeditation arranged that led the jury to convict Muhammad of first-degree murder.

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Family dynamics and the alleged motive

A core element of the case was the complicated family dynamic at work. Nada Huranieh was divorcing Bassel Altantawi, Muhammad Altantawi's father, and had started taking back her independence by beginning work as a fitness instructor.

Prosecutors thought that Muhammad sided with his father and hated his mother for what she did to him. Bassel, estranged from the family by the divorce and his legal problems, was also found to have profoundly affected Muhammad. At the time of Nada's death, Bassel had pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud and was under house arrest.

The prosecution has suggested that these factors, above all, Muhammad Atlantawi's loyalty towards his father along with animosity against his mother's newfound independence, could have made him an added motivation in the murder. The defense, however, said otherwise. They argued that Muhammad was a teenager caught between his parents' divorce and had been abused by both sides.

They also brought to the fore the physical evidence which, in their conclusion, had not connected Muhammad Altantawi to the scene of the crime. The jury would have otherwise disagreed. They decided, based on such evidence of premeditation and family tension, to send Muhammad to life in prison without parole.

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A maximum sentence of 60 years

Convicted on a first-degree premeditated murder count, Muhammad Altantawi will spend 35 to 60 years in prison. His formal sentencing took place the day after the guilty verdict was given.

The seriousness of the crime he had committed and Michigan's legislation regarding sentencing in cases of first-degree murder can be said to determine Muhammad Altantawi's future: long years spent behind bars.

During the trial, the defense was harsh on the investigation, stating that other suspects, which included a boyfriend Nada had once been involved with in an affair, were not given the same amount of energy to push for.

However, they used circumstantial evidence against Muhammad Altantawi to argue that his killing Nada must have made adequate plans as he and his father had a very close relationship.