The violent murder of Karim Meskine has touched many lives, especially those of his classmates at Gabrielle Roy in Surrey, and of the people who knew him best.
Karim was only 18 years old when he was beaten so severely that before he passed away the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team had already been called in to investigate. Karim died Thursday night, one day after his 19th birthday.
Yesterday a trust fund set up to pay for Meskine’s funeral and to help until his dad returns to work, had only $1,000 in it. That rose to $13,000, and at last word was at $23,000 and still growing. A burial plot has been donated and calls of support have been coming in from all across Canada.
The 16-year-old arrested in the case has now had his charges upgraded from assault to second-degree murder, and Crown gave notice that they will be asking for an adult sentence.
When he was attacked Karim was going for a job interview to help support his family. His dad has been looking for a job for some time and the family does not have much money. One of his younger brothers is also disabled and needs some expensive medical care.
His friend Margaret Bertrand says Karim always had a kind word for everyone. “Everyone says that he was quiet, but he was quiet because every time he’d say something it was only something nice to say,” she says, speaking on Unfiltered.
Family friend Tunde Alatise, also speaking on Unfiltered, says the family is just devastated by what has happened. “It has been a difficult week for the family and a difficult week for the entire community,” he says.
“The pain in the eyes of his family is just undescribable.”
He says the message is that this can happen to anybody. “This is a young man, with a promising future, that is quiet, gentle, humble, respectable, respectful and loves his family very very well and this happened to him,” says Alatise.
Bertrand says about 15 of Karim’s friends attended a memorial dinner tonight. “If anything we just all needed to come together and all talk about it and get it off our chests,” she says. “It’s hard right now but we’re trying to figure it out.”
A Facebook page has been set up in memory of Karim. The trust fund has been set up with TD Canada Trust and donors can use the branch number 9028 along with account number 6083916.
Email bank transfers can be made using the address karimtrustfund@gmail.com
“Our goal is to raise close to $100,000 for the family and for us to raise awareness for this type of crime,” says Alatise.
Karim’s funeral will most likely be held on Christmas Eve.
IHIT alleges the motive for the severe beating was robbery. However, Meskine was a gentle soul was not flashy and owned little, not even a cell phone.
Simon Fraser University criminology professor Rob Gordon says the good news is that the youth crime rate is on the decline. “These kinds of attacks are unusual,” he says. “And I don’t anticipate that this is going to lead to a sudden outburst in violence, or signals the beginning of a wave of violence involving young people.”
Gordon says this is a very shocking crime however.
“It’s a bit of a wake-up call that this is something that’s always hovering in the background,” he says.
Gordon says it might be possible that eventually the courts release the name of the accused, but as he is only 16 years old, his name will not be released at this time.
“It is a strange case in many ways, we are short of a lot of information,” he says.
WATCH: Darlene Heidemann reports on the suspect in court today:
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