The daughter of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X is in jail facing extradition to New York on charges of forgery and identity theft.
Malikah Shabazz , 45, was arrested on Friday night after police were called to a home in Mars Hill, North Carolina, because a child wasn’t attending school. Shabazz’s 13-year-old daughter is home-schooled.
One on the scene, Madison County Sheriff’s Office said investigators found that Shabazz had several outstanding warrants from New York, that include charges for grand larceny, forgery and identity theft, said Chief Deputy Michael Garrison.
Shabazz is the daughter of Malcolm X, who was also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. She was born months after Malcolm X was assassinated exactly 46 years ago yesterday.
She is now scheduled to appear for an extradition hearing on Tuesday.
Her lawyer Sean Devereux said the warrants appear to be from 2009 but that she was never served with the papers.
Her lawyer is unsure of the circumstances of the charges because prosecutors in New York have known her most recent address in South Carolina, where she owned a home and had a driver’s license.
‘The notion that she fled New York is really not the case,’ said Devereux.
He said Shabazz is not fighting extradition and is eager to go to New York and deal with the matter, not least because her 13-year-old daughter is now in the custody of the local Department of Social Services.

