A Douglasville woman accused of fatally stabbing her neighbor appeared in court Thursday, demanding to be released from jail and saying Allah was on her side.

Sahara Tabriz Fakhir, 32, was arrested Wednesday on a murder charge in the slaying last month of Douglas County business owner Jerry Wheeler. Jail records show Fakhir also is being held on a charge of giving false information to police.

In her first court appearance Thursday, Fakhir said that Allah (the Arabic word for God) would be representing her. She also told the judge she would seek vengeance if he didn’t release her from jail.

“Allah is my lawyer and and if you do not release me, Allah will have his vengeance on you like he did in 2009 when he sent the flood,” she told the judge. “It’s only going to be worse.”

She also called the courthouse “a cursed place.”

Wheeler, 66, owner of Lee Road Auto Service, was found dead in his home June 19 by his son, a local sheriff’s deputy. Authorities have refused to discuss a possible motive.

Douglas County coroner Randy Daniel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Wheeler was “a great man.”

“I don’t know why in God’s name anyone would want to hurt him,” Daniel said.

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