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Hend Bustami: Nevada woman who claimed she was arrested for being 'so good-looking' pleads guilty to stabbing mother to death

Hend Bustami pleaded guilty but mentally ill to one count of second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the slaying of Afaf Hussanen

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: A 29-year-old Nevada woman who drew nationwide interest last year by claiming she got arrested for being “so good-looking” could spend the rest of her life behind bars after admitting to murdering her mother. Hend Bustami stabbed her 61-year-old mother multiple times inside the home they both shared, KATV reports. 

The defendant appeared in Clark County District Court on Tuesday, September 26, and formally pleaded guilty but mentally ill to one count of second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the slaying of Afaf Hussanen, court records show. 

Bustami fled the state after committing the crime

Bustami apparently dialed the emergency services after attacking her mother in their Las Vegas residence and calmly confessed to the murder before she got into her car and left the state.

On October 26 last year, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to a 911 call at approximately 2.34 am about an injured person inside a residence on June Flower Drive.

The caller, later identified as Bustami, requested medical assistance as she bluntly stated that she’d just “murdered” her own mother.

What did Bustami say on the 911 call?

“Do you need police, fire, or medical?” the 911 dispatcher asked in the brief audio clip. “Uh, medical,” Bustami responded, adding, “I think I killed my mommy.” The dispatcher then asked Bustami for her address, which she provided, before questioning her about her mother.

“Why do you think you killed your mom?” the dispatcher asked. “Because I did. I murdered her,” Bustami replied.

“How did you do that?” asked the dispatcher. “I broke the table on her head and I broke it,” Bustami appeared to say, though some parts of the audio are difficult to decipher.

When the dispatcher asked where she was calling from, Bustami said that she was still at her mother's place and again offered to provide the dispatcher her address before they returned to the topic of killing her mother.

“Okay, what did you do to her?” the dispatcher asked. “I killed her,” Bustami said, maintaining a monotone voice throughout the conversation.

“How did you kill her, you said something about a table?” the dispatcher asked. “I broke the table on her head. I broke the table on her head and I cut her neck off,” Bustami responded. 

What did the authorities find upon arrival?

First responders immediately discovered an unresponsive adult female upon arriving at the address. The woman was identified as Hussanen, who seemingly sustained “multiple lacerations,” police said. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

Investigators said evidence indicated the victim “was involved in a verbal dispute with her daughter” just before she sustained her fatal injuries. Authorities said Bustami killed her mother and fled the scene, leaving the state.

Where was Bustami arrested?

A few hours after the victim’s body was discovered, Barstow Police Department and the California Highway Patrol officers traced down and detained Bustami in California. When authorities enacted a traffic stop, they found Bustami “covered in blood” as she again admitted to killing her mother, they said.

Why did Bustami kill her mother?

Bustami told investigators that she and her mother were fighting and confessed to stabbing the older woman with “shards of glass” from a broken table. The defendant had previous run-ins with the law as well.

She was apprehended last summer at Harry Reid International Airport, which is when police say Bustami claimed her detainment was due to her being “so good-looking.”

Why was Bustami arrested at airport?

On August 31, 2022, authorities were called to the airport in regard to an adult female who left a Chili’s restaurant without paying her bill. “[O]fficers working D gates were notified by TSA that [a] female matching that description was observed sleeping near the security checkpoint, hindering their operations,” a probable cause affidavit stated.

Bustami was later located near the baggage claim area and became “belligerent with officers, saying she was being harassed because cops [had] never seen anyone as pretty as her,” according to the affidavit.

While being placed under arrest, Bustami allegedly said that “she was going to spit on all [the officers] and that officers were perverts and were trying to rape her because they [had] never seen anyone as good-looking,” police wrote.

Bustami is currently scheduled to appear in court for her sentencing hearing on December 19 before Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline M Bluth. She is facing between 10 years to life in prison for second-degree murder.