A suburban Indianapolis Army veteran has been convicted in the road rage shooting death of a Muslim man, after witnesses said he hurled ethnic and religious insults at the victim, including yelling, "Go back to your country," before opening fire.

A Marion County jury convicted Dustin E. Passarelli, 37, of murder on Wednesday after a three-day trial over the February 2019 killing of 32-year-old Mustafa Ayoubi. Passarelli, of Plainfield, could get up to 65 years in prison when he's sentenced June 21 on the murder charge.

He was also convicted of a firearm enhancement charge that could boost his sentence by up to 20 years, the county prosecutor's office said.

BALTIMORE RESIDENT WHO PUSHED MAN ONTO SUBWAY TRACKS ARRESTED IN QUEENS

Defense attorney, Chris Eskew, told The Indianapolis Star that he and Passarelli were disappointed by the verdict, but he declined to comment further about the case until after the sentencing.

Passarelli shot and killed Ayoubi following a road rage incident on Interstate 465 that led to Passarelli following Ayoubi to an apartment complex on the city’s northwest side, according to court documents.

Passarelli told police that Ayoubi either threw something at his car or collided with it on the highway and that after he followed Ayoubi to the apartment complex, Ayoubi broke one of Passarelli's car windows with a punch.

The defense argued that Passarelli was within his rights to fire at Ayoubi because it was self-defense.

Multiple witnesses said Passarelli and Ayoubi shouted inflammatory remarks at each other in front of a townhome. They said Passarelli yelled religious and ethnic insults at the unarmed Ayoubi, including, "Go back to your country," shortly before he shot him.

Passarelli claimed that post-traumatic stress disorder he developed during his time in the Army contributed to his behavior on the highway and was partially to blame for the shooting. But Passarelli’s mental evaluation and PTSD claims were ruled inadmissible in court.

Passarelli was not charged with a hate crime. The FBI had said it was looking into whether Ayoubi’s killing involved a federal civil rights violation, but no federal charges were ever filed.

Six weeks after Ayoubi’s killing, Indiana lawmakers passed a hate crimes bill that included a provision allowing judges to impose longer sentences for crimes motivated by bias.

GEORGIA WOMAN'S REMAINS IDENTIFIED AS VICTIM OF MOST PROLIFIC SERIAL KILLER IN US HISTORY

Before the bill became law, Indiana was one of five states without a hate crime law.

Ayoubi’s sister, who had urged lawmakers to pass a hate crime law, told The Indianapolis Star that her family was originally from Afghanistan and arrived in the United States in 2001 as refugees. They later became U.S. citizens.

Zahra Ayoubi said Wednesday that the verdict can allow her family to finally begin to celebrate her younger brother’s life four years after his killing.

"I wish this never happened," she said. "The true justice would be if we were all still together right now. However, he died. And he left a legacy."

Matt Araiza’s NFL career ended before it ever really began. The punter was cut by the Buffalo Bills in August 2022 two weeks before the start of the NFL regular season after an allegation was made public that he had taken part in the gang rape of a minor during his time at San Diego State.

Not a single fact was known about the alleged incident nor were there any criminal charges brought on Araiza, but the Bills caved to the portion of the public who had already deemed the punter guilty.

Fast-forward to today, less than nine months since he was cut, and it has been determined that he was not present at the time of the alleged gang rape.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

One would think that a 22-year-old who had been cut due to a heinous allegation that he knew was false would hold a grudge over the franchise that took his dream away from him, but that isn’t the reality.

Araiza joined OutKick show ‘Tomi Lahren Is Fearless‘ and explained that the Bills were made aware of the allegations about a month before he was officially cut, which he realizes now was the only choice the franchise thought it had.

"I gave my attorney the greenlight to keep them in the loop and give them all of our witness statements, all of our evidence," Araiza explained. "They knew the truth, but the accusations were strong enough that they had to cut me."

EX-NFL PLAYER DAMON ARNETTE INDICTED ON FELONY GUN CHARGES STEMMING FROM 2022 LAS VEGAS INCIDENT

Be sure to watch Araiza’s full sitdown with Lahren on Thursday night starting at 7 p.m. ET on OutKick’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Araiza understands that the idea of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ doesn’t exist in the world we live in today. He’s had time to reflect on that sad reality, which is exactly why he holds nothing against the Bills.

"It was a shock to me, growing up my whole life wanting to be a pro athlete, the thought is if I’m good enough I’ll be able to have that career and play at that level, but that wasn’t the case," Araiza told Lahren. "I was cut because of these allegations."

"I hold nothing against the Buffalo Bills, I wish things were handled differently," Araiza continued. "But they did treat me with respect, which I appreciate. It’s just the climate of how things are now. Accusations bring so much hate to anyone who stands by the accuser that they were kind of forced to cut me from the team."

Araiza is still facing a civil lawsuit in regard to the allegations but explained that he currently has no plans of settling.

He does, however, have plans to one day return to the NFL.

"In my heart, I believe that I will get another shot at the NFL and I’m looking forward to that," Araiza said. "I’m staying ready and just waiting for my name to be called."