World-renowned hairstylist violently beaten to death by a man he met on a dating app, police say
Beloved hairstylist Bashar Kallabat was brutally murdered in a motel in Detroit, US, police say. (Facebook)
Local law enforcement arrested 24-year-old suspect Thursday in the murder of internationally-known hairstylist, Bashar Kallabat.
The 56-year-old victim was found dead by motel staff at the JZ hotel in Detroit, US, Tuesday evening. He died of blunt force trauma, according to police.
Detroit police chief James Craig said at a press conference Wednesday that detectives used surveillance video to identify the suspect, who has not been named.
Craig called Kallabat a “highly respected and revered” stylist, whose work was splashed across Vogue, Harper’s Bazar and other luxury fashion magazines.
What happened to Bashar Kallabat?
Detectives “believe” Kallabat linked with his killer on a dating app before arriving to the hotel just before 6pm.
The suspect arrived at the motel, on 14700 block of East Mile Road, via a rideshare app Lyft, Deadline Detroit reported, at 6:30pm. He left the premises around 9pm.
Kallabat paid for the ride, investigators said, complicating their search for the suspect.
Security footage at the city’s Project Green Light program helped track him down due to his “distinctive security guard uniform or jacket”.
As a result, Craig Raif offices raced to arrest the man and booked him into custody around 9pm Wednesday.
Cops urge the public to use ‘extreme caution’ when using dating apps.
“Certainly if you are meeting someone from a dating app, you meet in public,” Craig advised.
“Secondly, you let someone know where you’re going.
“Especially when you’re talking about someone coming to a location via ride share and you’re paying for it? That certainly can put you at risk.
“Sex offenders are using these apps,” Craig said.
“So use extreme caution.”
“Dance like nobody is watching,” a loved one of the hairstylist reflected to WJBK-TV.
“For what? You ruined his life, your life and a thousand other people’s life and more.
“For no reason.”
She continued: “Bashar is not known for his death, what happened to him, he’s known for his life.
“Everybody should remember his life and what he gave to everyone.”
