Man pleads guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mohammed Omar

Mohammed Omar’s family left Iraq in search of peace and now say they’re living out a nightmare after their 18-year-old son, who was volunteering to help an autistic boy in Saskatoon, was stabbed to death by a friend in the early morning hours of April 24, 2016.

On Tuesday, the accused in the case stood up in court before the first Crown witness took the stand and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Omar, whose family still resides in Winnipeg.

“For me it doesn’t matter and doesn’t change nothing because I lost my son,” Khattab Karim, Omar’s father, said.

In court, the Crown detailed how the two friends got into an argument over pot, then things quickly intensified when the accused, in a delusional thought process, said the victim had in some way sexually assaulted him.

“None of which was based in reality and that is what motivated him to eventually become very upset and commit this offence,” senior Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga said.

That’s when the accused began stabbing the victim in the stomach; the vehicle they were driving in crashed into a wall and Omar fled for safety at a nearby Mac’s store in the 700-block of Central Avenue.

An eyewitness decided to take a photo of the license plate thinking it was an impaired driver but before he could, Mohamed came around the corner with the knife and the bystander backed away.

Bouncers from a bar were asked to assist and that’s when the group saw the Mac’s store clerk running out the front door. The individuals called police and  tried to safely intervene as the violent crime continued to unfolded.

The Crown told court that by the time paramedics and police arrived, Omar had bled to death on the floor and the accused was arrested.

Walid Adam Mohamed was then kept at the Saskatchewan Hospital for 30 days and two reports submitted to the courts indicated a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but that he knew what he was doing at the time of the attack.

“When you stab someone repeatedly and of course we were talking 15 stab wounds and another nine cuts, so over twenty wounds inflicted on this individual in a very short period of time, you understand that’s going to hurt somebody,” Miazga said.

“He appreciated that and secondly he knew that was wrong and he referred to that in statements he provided to authorities.”

Walid Mohamed’s counsel said it had explored a not criminally responsible defence but that the accused wanted to plead guilty to second-degree murder instead.

During victim impact statements, court heard that Omar’s family considered themselves as one and they would all rather die than live without him.

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For that the accused addressed the family and asked for forgiveness saying he would live with what he’s done for the rest of his life.

“Walid’s family feels very sorry about the victim and they also expressed their condolences,” said Michael Abraha, outside of court for the family of the accused.

Mohamed will now serve the minimum sentence for second-degree murder, life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years and whether he’ll spend it at the Regional Psychiatric Centre as requested by defence counsel – will ultimately be up to correction officials.