Murderer, 29, who once claimed she was ‘too pretty’ to be arrested is sentenced to at least 15 years for killing her mom by busting a glass table over her head and stabbing her
A Las Vegas woman who once said she was too “pretty” to be arrested will spend at least 15 years in prison after admitting to the violent murder of her mother.
The verdict comes three months after Hend Bustami, now 29, pleaded “guilty but mentally ill” to a second-degree murder with a deadly weapon charge for the October 2022 killing of 61-year-old Afaf Hussanen.
She will now spend the next 15 years in prison after telling officers that an argument over cigarettes escalated to the point where she hit her mother on the head with a glass side table and stabbed her with a piece that broke off.
About a month before the murders, Bustami made news for a very different reason: an arrest at Harry Reid International Airport after she skipped a bill at an airport restaurant in Chile.
When officers approached her, she pretended she was too “pretty” to be arrested, labeling the police as “perverts” who were “trying to rape her because they had never seen anyone so handsome.”
A month later, she called 911 to tell operators, “I think I killed my mother.”
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Hend Bustami of Las Vegas reportedly called police around 2:30 a.m. to admit to killing her mother on October 26, 2022. A month earlier, Bustami made headlines for a very different reason: an arrest at a Nevada airport where she said she was “too pretty.” be arrested
Bustami, now 29, pleaded “guilty but mentally ill” Thursday to a charge of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon for the October 2022 killing of 61-year-old Afaf Hussanen.
Bustami, seen at left, sits in a Clark County courtroom as she was sentenced Tuesday. She pleaded guilty but mentally ill, meaning she was competent enough to stand trial but mentally ill at the time of the offense
“Do you need police, fire or medical assistance?” The 911 dispatcher is heard asking the then 28-year-old for an audio recording of her 911 call on the night in question, which prosecutors played at Bustami's grand jury hearing.
“Um, medical,” she answers. “I think I killed my mother.”
Bustami then gives the dispatcher her mother's address – a home they shared in the South Vegas Valley, near Jones Boulevard and Cactus Avenue – before being asked why she thinks she “killed her mother.”
'Because I did. I killed her,” Bustami says calmly, five months before he was charged with murder.
'How did you do that?' the dispatcher asks, to which Bustami responds, “I broke the table on her head.”
The convicted killer then repeats to the dispatcher that she was still at her mother's house, and reconfirms the address.
The dispatcher then asks, “Okay, what did you do to her?”
“I killed her,” Bustami answers calmly.
“How did you kill her, you said something about a table?” the coordinator asks again.
“I broke the table on her head,” Bustami explains. “I broke the table on her head and cut off her neck.”
“What did you cut?” the coordinator asks incredulously.
“Her neck off,” the woman replies coolly.
She will now spend the next 15 years in prison after telling officers that an argument over cigarettes escalated to the point where she hit her mother on the head with a glass side table and stabbed her with a piece that broke off.
The murder occurred at the home they shared in the South Vegas Valley, near Jones Boulevard and Cactus Avenue, after an argument that the suspect said was “about cigarettes.”
About a month earlier, Bustami made headlines for a very different reason: an arrest at Harry Reid International Airport after she skipped a bill at Chili's restaurant at the airport. Pictured: Chili's restaurant at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas
'I think I hurt my mother,' dispatchers believe Bustami told them before hanging up
Hussanen was found stabbed to death in the house with pieces of broken glass. Her daughter was later found more than 150 miles away in California
Police would arrive on the scene quickly, and California Highway Patrol officers would later spot Bustami driving aimlessly about 150 miles away near Barstow, police said.
While speaking to officers, Bustami was covered in blood and reportedly admitted to the murder again.
She was then arrested for the second time in a month, following her reportedly drunken tirade – and dine-and-dash – at the airport restaurant.
Although Bustami was found mentally competent to stand trial, her public defender argued that a psychologist “found that she was experiencing 'intermittent exacerbations of psychosis' and 'required continued psychiatric treatment,'” according to court records.
She initially pleaded not guilty, before using her attorney's argument to secure a plea deal where she would plead guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder – meaning she was mentally ill at the time of the offense.
The deal also saw her plead guilty to a slew of other crimes for which she had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor, including charges of burglary, home invasion, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, and sale of a controlled dust.
Judge Jacqueline Bluth sentenced Bustami to 15 years to life in prison on Tuesday, a court spokesperson confirmed – before revealing that Bustami will be paroled in 2037 with credit for time served.
As part of her sentence, Bustami will also have to receive medical care for mental illness, due to the psychologist's diagnosis and her apparent history of outbursts.
As a result, Judge Jacqueline Bluth handed Bustami a prison sentence of 15 years to life on Tuesday, a court spokesperson confirmed – before revealing that Bustami will be released on parole in 2037, with credit for time served.
As part of her sentence, Bustami will also have to receive medical care for mental illness, due to the psychologist's diagnosis and her apparent history of outbursts.
In announcing her ruling, Bluth said that Bustami's mental health care history includes diagnoses of several types of psychoses and disorders, and that she will have the opportunity to receive mental health treatment while in prison.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Clark County District Attorney's office for comment.