NOEL, Mo. — Two Noel residents are being held in the assault of a 19-year-old Muslim woman that the McDonald County prosecutor views as a hate crime.

Michael R. Miller, 34, and Ashli M. Helmuth, 28, are accused of accosting 19-year-old Fatima Mohamed on Oct. 3 as she was leaving a city park in Noel.

Prosecutor Bill Dobbs said Mohamed, a Somali who lives in Noel, was on her lunch break from an evening-shift job and went to the park to have her supper in a quiet setting. Dobbs said it is his understanding that she was attired in traditional Muslim garb, including a burqa.

She was driving out of the park on her way back to work when a group of five people gathered at the residence of Miller and Helmuth at 122 Golf Course Drive stopped her vehicle.

"She exited the vehicle and there was a verbal altercation between her and two females," Dobbs said.

The altercation involved racial slurs directed at Mohamed by the group, Dobbs said. Helmuth and a second woman began shoving and hitting her, he said. Miller and two others joined in the verbal abuse of Mohamed, with Miller shouting at her as he pulled out a handgun and fired several rounds "in her general direction," the prosecutor said.

"He then put the gun to her head and made further threats," Dobbs said.

Mohamed escaped injury in the incident that was reported to Noel police, leading to the arrests of Miller and Helmuth. Charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, the two remain in custody at the McDonald County Jail on cash-only bonds of $2,500. They have a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday of next week.

Dobbs said that from the police reports that he has seen regarding the incident, he does not believe Miller discharged the gun with an intent to shoot Mohamed.

"I don't think it was an effort to hit her," he said. "I think it was an effort to frighten her."

Miller admitted involvement to a Noel deputy marshal and told police where they could find the gun that was discharged, according to the affidavit.

Probe continuing

Michael R. Miller and Ashli M. Helmuth are the only defendants currently charged in the case. But Prosecutor Bill Dobbs said he could file charges against others involved as the hate-crime investigation proceeds.  

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