Teen pleads guilty to second-degree murder in Halifax mall stabbing

Ahmad Al Marrach is shown in an undated family handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO)

A 15-year-old has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy outside a Halifax mall last year.

The teenager had initially pleaded not guilty and was set to go to trial late next month. They changed their plea to guilty in Halifax youth court Friday morning.

“The Crown is really pleased,” said Sarah Kirby, senior Crown prosecutor, told CTV News.

“It provides closure to the family of some sort and it’s the young person taking responsibility, so that means that we don’t have to go through trial, the witnesses don’t have to testify about what was obviously a traumatic event, and it reduces any kind of uncertainty.”

The youth, who cannot be identified due to their age, is one of four teens charged in the case.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the victim – Ahmad Maher Al Marrach – and one of the youths charged in the case agreed over text message to engage in a one-on-one fight with no weapons on April 22, 2024.

However, the statement confirms four youths were armed with knives when they attacked Al Marrach at the Halifax Shopping Centre parkade that day.

Al Marrach was stabbed in the chest during the altercation and died in hospital that evening.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the teen who pleaded guilty Friday is the teen who stabbed Al Marrach. They were 14 at the time.

The teen will be sentenced on June. 9.

Kirby said second-degree murder carries a set sentence of seven years under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

“There is no room for movement on that,” she said. “It can’t be higher, it can’t be lower.”

The Crown was considering seeking an adult sentence in the case but withdrew that notice Friday following the teen’s guilty plea.

Kirby said the seven-year sentence typically includes four years of custody and three years of supervised custody outside of an institution.

“Some members of the victim’s family were present today and I imagine that today has provided them with some sort of closure knowing that they don’t have to look forward to sitting through a trial and listening to the evidence,” said Kirby.

A 17-year-old and a 14-year-old were also initially charged with second-degree murder in the case. They pleaded guilty in October to manslaughter.

They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 14 and March 31, respectively.

The fourth teen is still on trial for second-degree murder. The 17-year-old’s trial started on Jan. 6. It is expected to resume on April 4 and wrap up in May.

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