In the parking lot of the Jame Makki Masjid Mosque in Brampton, dozens of Western University students wearing suits and head scarves stood around sobbing.
They watched as the casket of their friend and classmate, 19-year-old Zohaib Jailani, was carried into the back of a van headed for the cemetery.
“We call him our ‘sunshine angel,’ because he was just such a great person,” Jailani’s friend Paisley Elder told Global News on Tuesday, choking back tears.
Jailani was waiting for a bus at the corner of Kipling and Steeles avenues at 1:35 a.m. Friday when Toronto police said he was struck and critically injured by a stolen Honda Accord.
Police said the Honda collided with a Dodge Caravan in the intersection and then struck a Chevrolet Cruz before hitting Jailini, who was standing on the southeast corner. Investigators allege that after the collision, the accused, 29-year-old Martin Hines of Orangeville, fled the scene.
Hines then allegedly assaulted and carjacked a woman who was sitting in her Nissan Rogue a few blocks away from the intersection.
After continuing on Steeles Avenue, police said Hines was involved in a third collision at Steeles and Old Weston Road. No injuries were reported as a result of the crash.
Police said the suspect got out of the Nissan Rogue and then attempted to carjack a transit bus when he was arrested by officers for impaired driving.
Friends of Jailani said he had just come from a birthday party and was waiting to catch a bus home to Brampton.
“It’s really hard to put into words how hard it’s been for people. I was in the ICU since Friday morning, so at that time, you see people walking in, you see the tears,” said family friend Tahaa Muhammad on Tuesday. “It’s really bad; it’s not something you put into words.”
Jailani was rushed to hospital with severe head trauma. He died Friday afternoon.
Muhammad said Jailani was the only boy in a family of three children and was spending the summer working a government job. She said he hoped to go on to work at the United Nations.
Hines has also been charged in Peel Region in relation to another fatal hit-and-run and carjacking 20 minutes prior to the incident involving Jailani.
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Police allege that Hines struck a vehicle being driven by 60-year-old Eddie Chavez Alquinto at the intersection of Steeles Avenue East and McLaughlin Road in Brampton. Alquinot was pronounced dead on scene.
His 45-year-old wife, who was a passenger in the car, was also seriously injured. In Alquinto’s obituary, he is described as a husband, father and grandfather. His funeral is on Saturday.
Hines made a brief court appearance at 2201 Finch Avenue in Toronto on Tuesday.
Sporting an orange jumpsuit, Hines acknowledged his family in the gallery. One man, believed to be Hines’ father, sobbed when he saw his son. Hines was remanded in custody until July 12.