Two Young Girls Found Dead in Their Father’s Car on New Year’s Eve

On New Year’s Eve, two young girls in West Sacramento were tragically found dead inside their father’s car. Police report that Hamdy Rouin’s Hyundai Accent had been abandoned by a woman who parked it outside the West Sacramento Subway on Sunday night.

On Tuesday afternoon, a candlelight vigil was held for the girls at Subway’s location. People stood outside with candles and wept as their pastor spoke. Amy Hunter, who wasn’t present for the vigil but is cooperating with investigators, spoke as well.

Their dad, Hamdy Rouin, was a frustrated immigrant who had been fighting for custody of the girls. According to coworkers, he was due in court on January 2 for violating a restraining order as well as more than 500 counts of sent text messages.

The father of the girls, a Tunisian immigrant, had been struggling to gain employment and find a place to live in America. According to M.A. Azeez, senior imam at Tarbiya Institute mosque in Roseville, he had difficulty adapting and was often frustrated with court processes.

Rouin had been fighting his divorce with Amy Hunter for nearly three years, according to a friend of the family who is a pastor at their local church. According to this friend, Rouin was frustrated that Hunter wasn’t living with the girls or getting the custody he desired.

They both expressed an interest in science careers, with Sophia aspiring to be a mathematician for NASA. Sara seemed introspective with a twinkle in her eye, they said.

She had a passion for feeding the homeless, according to a fundraising appeal created in her honor. Additionally, they noted that she enjoyed playing Minecraft.

The girls, named after their parents, had their own YouTube channel called “Two Super Sisters.” There they posted videos of pranks and challenges as well as videos of them sneaking candy or slime in school. After posting for around a year on the channel, it appears they stopped posting content; most of their older videos have since been removed or privatized.

Their parents had divorced and Hunter filed for a restraining order against Rouin after she reported him having threatened her numerous times and physically abusing her.

She noted in her affidavit that he was an alcoholic with a history of domestic violence. He had been convicted of several crimes such as assault, robbery and battery.

She reported that during their marriage, he made threats against their children and attempted to abduct them on multiple occasions, according to court documents. As a result, she had obtained a restraining order against him as a precaution for their safety.

The restraining order was temporarily lifted twice, and visitation rights were restored every other weekend.

His ex-wife supported her efforts to fight the restraining order, but she wasn’t pleased with his behavior.