A fatal shooting at a Mississauga, Ont., chicken restaurant in May 2021 was allegedly motivated by the accused trying to stop the victim from telling police that a group of men he was in business with had pledged allegiance to ISIS.
That’s what Assistant Crown Attorney David D’Iorio told the jury in his opening address at the Brampton Superior Courthouse this week.
On the evening of May 29, 2021, 22-year-old Daniel Akl was working at the front counter of his family’s Chicken Land restaurant at the corner of Glen Erin and The Collegeway in Mississauga. Akl’s parents had been operating the takeout restaurant for nearly three decades. Along with Daniel, his parents, his brother Naim, his teenage sister Sandra and a friend of the family, Rohullah Rawi, were all hard at work.
Just after 7:15 p.m., a hooded masked man entered through the front door of Chicken Land, pulled a handgun out of a satchel he was carrying and shot Daniel in the neck. Rawi was shot on the right side of the head. Naim was shot twice, once in the face and once in the left ear – his wounds were fatal. The mother was shot in the upper right arm, and the father was hit in the chest. Sandra was also fired at, but the bullet missed her.
D’Iorio told the jury that after firing seven shots, the gunman fled to a getaway car waiting just down the street. The shooter got into the trunk of that car before the driver sped off.
By the time first responders arrived, Naim was dead. None of the survivors were able to identify the gunman.
D’Iorio said Naqash Abbasi, Suliman Raza and Anand Nath are guilty of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The Crown alleges that Naim Akl met and befriended a group of men who claimed to be devout followers of the Islamic faith. The leader was Abassi and his followers included Raza and Nath.
D’Iorio said Naim didn’t tell his family he had converted to Islam, from the Druze faith, and began working at Abbasi’s warehouse business with Raza and Nath. The warehouse was known as a Fulfillment by Amazon or an FBA business.
Inside the business, which was known as “Tryalinc,” the Crown says, they weren’t just buying and selling products through Amazon.
“Mr. Abbasi and his followers had pledged allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic State, and he was using the business to finance that organization. Money was being sent ‘back home’ to further that cause,” said D’Iorio.
The Crown says Naim became aware that Abassi and his group had pledged allegiance to ISIS. After a falling out over the business, Naim was planning to go to the authorities and to betray them.
“So they came up with a plan to prevent that from happening. Naim Akl and his whole family would be killed,” D’Iorio explained.
The Crown said they will prove that Abassi actively encouraged Raza and Nath to commit the crimes. Raza was the driver and Nath was the gunman whose plan was to kill every person in the restaurant.
All three men have pleaded not guilty.
The trial continues.