Henrietta double murder suspect previously convicted of multiple assaults

HENRIETTA, N.Y. — Rajab A. Banahi, the man accused of murdering his parents inside their home in Henrietta Wednesday night, was charged with robbery and assault at the same home two years ago.

The following year he was charged for assaulting an employee at Strong Hospital.

According to the Monroe County District Attorney’s office, Banahi was charged with robbery and assault at 38 Kathy Drive in Henrietta in June, 2021. But because the victim refused to testify, Banahi plead to Assault 3rd and was sentenced to probation in September, 2021. Part of his sentence included anger management courses, mental health evaluations and treatment and drug and alcohol treatment if necessary.

On December 15, 2021, the DA’s office says Banahi assaulted an employee at Strong Hospital. He was jail on no bail. Banahi pleaded guilty to Assault 2nd in April 2022 and was sentenced to a year in jail in June 2022. By then, Banahi had already served six months in jail. He was released from the Monroe County jail sometime before December 15th, 2022.

Last night, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says Banahi murdered his parents, Ali and Mastorra Banahi, and tried to kill another woman by the name of Masuda Banahi in the family home.

One neighbor said he thinks Masuda Banahi is Rajab Banahi’s sister.
“When I came home from work I actually saw what I think is the sister, she was kind of going into the house about 3:15. I don’t know what happened after that,” the neighbor said.
 
About an hour later, Banahi called 911 and shortly after that sheriff’s deputies arrived to discover the attacks.

The sheriff’s office says Banahi killed his parents with some kind of blunt force and then stabbed them multiple times with knives from the kitchen.
The charges say Masuda Banahi was also beaten and stabbed and had emergency surgery over night for multiple internal injuries.

Just about every neighbor I talked to said the couple was nice and would wave to them on their walks but they also got a bad feeling about their son and had to call 911 several times.
That’s similar to what the neighbor said last night.

“He would live here for a while and he would come and flip us all off and they would call the cops on him,” the neighbor said. “And I felt so bad for his dad because his dad was an amazing person.”

The court papers say Banahi made admissions to the 911 operator and deputies. The sheriff’s office has not confirmed the relationship between Rajab and Masuda Banahi.

Banahi’s preliminary hearing is next Tuesday but in almost every single case in Monroe County, the grand jury will vote on an indictment prior to those hearings which cancels them.