Mother of rape suspect Salih Mahdi: Crime could have been prevented

The mother of a man charged in a brutal assault and rape says the crime could have been prevented had her son been treated for his mental illness.

Salih Mahdi, 24, is accused in the brutal rape and beating of a leasing agent at a Morrow apartment complex on June 5.

Mahdi's mother, Haleemah Rabia, said her son was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2007 and has been in and out of jail ever since for a variety of crimes. She says that the crime could have been prevented if Mahdi had stayed in jail and been properly treated.

"I begged them, ‘Do not release my son. Let's find a long-term facility to put him in,'" said Rabia. "My son has never received long-term treatment and I've begged for it, in writing, verbally, in person, asking, ‘Please give him long-term treatment so he can understand his illness and be able to function well in society."

"The letter of the law is often that he has to hurt himself or someone else before they can act. That's usually the response," Mahdi's sister, Sabah Muhammad, said.

Rabia said that she is heartbroken for the woman her son is accused of raping. She said that the system has failed the victim and Mahdi.

"The state of Georgia has failed us. Clayton County has failed us by not giving the proper funding, the proper facilities for people living with mental illness," said Rabia.

The suspect's mother said that her son was locked up in jail for more than a year without his medication, despite a judge's order that he be placed in a mental institution. She says he was released from jail just weeks before the alleged rape.

A probable cause hearing Mahdi was postponed on Thursday. He remains behind bars.