A man charged with first-degree murder in the killing of three Muslim college students in Durham , North Carolina , can face a death penalty trial , a judge ruled on Monday . Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson Jr. said prosecutors had two aggravating factors and that Craig Stephen Hicks is 'death penalty qualified . ' Hicks is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the February 10 killings of 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat ; his wife , 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha ; and her sister , 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha . Scroll down for video . A superior court judge in North Carolina ruled on Monday that Craig Hicks is 'death penalty qualified ' after he was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of three Muslim college students . Prosecutors said Hicks confessed and was arrested with the murder weapon . Ballistics matched the handgun to shell casings recovered at the apartment and there was gunshot residue on his hands and one of the victim 's blood was on his pants , prosecutors said . Police say Hicks , 46 , appears to have been motivated by a long-running dispute over parking spaces at the Chapel Hill condominium complex where he lived in the same building as Barakat and his wife . The victims ' families are adamant that they were targeted because they were Muslims and have pushed for hate-crime charges . The FBI is conducting what it has called a 'parallel preliminary inquiry ' to the homicide investigation to determine whether any federal laws were violated , including hate crime statutes . Search warrants filed by Chapel Hill police said Barakat was shot in the head near the entrance to his condo . The two women were found in or near the kitchen . Murdered : Deah Shaddy Barakat , a dental student at the University of North Carolina ; ( left ) his wife , 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha ( center ) and her sister , 19-year-old Rezan ( right ) were gunned down on February 10 . Eight spent shell casings were found at the crime scene , investigators said . Earlier search warrants listed a dozen firearms recovered from the condo unit Hicks shared with his wife , in addition to the handgun he had with him when he turned himself in after the shootings . Hicks , who was unemployed and studying to become a paralegal , posted online that he was an atheist and a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment right to bear arms . Neighbors described him as an angry man who had frequent confrontations over parking or loud music , sometimes with a gun holstered at his hip . His social media posts often discussed firearms , including a photo posted of a .38-caliber revolver . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .
A superior court judge in North Carolina ruled on Monday that Craig Hicks is 'death penalty qualified ' He has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of dozen Muslim college students on February 10 . His victims were Deah Shaddy Barakat , 23 , his wife , Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha , 21 , and her sister , Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha , 19 . The victims ' families are adamant that they were targeted because they were Muslims and have pushed for hate-crime charges .