HALIFAX — The grim details of the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy in Halifax, Nova Scotia, last April were revealed in court Friday, as convictions were handed down for two teens who had pleaded guilty of having participated in the crime.
In October, a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Ahmad Maher Al Marrach. The boy was found seriously injured in a parking garage next to the Halifax shopping center on April 22. He later died in hospital.
Agreed statements of fact from each of the accused were read into the record at a hearing in Nova Scotia Youth Court on Friday. Aside from a few details, the documents are virtually identical.
Ahmad Al Marrach, a popular student at Citadel Secondary School in Halifax, arrived in Canada with his family several years ago after fleeing the war in Syria.
Two other teens, ages 17 and 15, are scheduled to stand trial on second-degree murder charges later this year. Shortly after the murder was reported, all four defendants were initially charged with second-degree murder. Their identities are protected from publication under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
According to the statements, the two teens who pleaded guilty to manslaughter did not participate in the stabbing and did not know what the other teens planned to do that afternoon. Both are expected to be sentenced later this year.
Statements indicate that on April 22, the four accused in the case met at a downtown Halifax shopping mall, where one of the two accused still charged with murder purchased a large kitchen knife from a discount store. One of the statements states that the girl was in a relationship with this boy.
The four then boarded a transit bus and headed to the Halifax Mall in the city’s west. It was there that one of the accused started fighting with Ahmad Al Marrach over a dispute over a girl. Video footage taken from the girl’s cellphone shows the three other teens quickly joined in the attack on the boy, hitting and kicking him for about a minute.
At one point, the girl can be heard saying, “Those are nice shoes,” referring to the victim’s sneakers. She then says, “Take his shoes,” as the fight continues.
“In the background, some of Ahmad’s friends are seen arriving at the scene,” one of the statements reads. Two of the accused boys can be seen brandishing knives, “telling Ahmad’s friends to stay back.”
-Ahmad Al Marrach grabbed the girl’s boyfriend, the two fell to the ground and the girl shouted: “Leave me alone!”
Court documents say the girl then kicked Ahmad Al Marrach several times in the head and the two boys separated.
About 20 seconds later, the girl fell while running towards Ahmad Al Marrach’s backpack, which he had left nearby. He was then confronted by the boyfriend.
“During the commotion that followed (…) (the boyfriend) who is holding a large knife in his right hand advanced towards Ahmad, raised his right hand above his shoulder and thrust the knife into the center of Ahmad’s chest,” one of the statements read.
The alleged killer and the girl then fled the garage, according to the statements. The couple was arrested two days later.
The other two boys left before the police arrived.
Both statements of fact indicate that the girl and her boyfriend “knew that a foreseeable consequence of … participation in Ahmad’s mob attack was the risk of serious bodily harm to Ahmad.”
The youth identified as the alleged killer is scheduled to stand trial for second-degree murder next month. The trial of the second teen charged with second-degree murder is expected to begin Monday.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
