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 three 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 .