A 19-year-old man, sought for months on a charge of manslaughter in connection with the assault and subsequent death of an 18-year-old Western freshman, was granted release on bail on Tuesday hours after turning himself in to police.
Haroun Raselma turned himself over to authorities Tuesday morning, four months and one day after a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the death of Gabriel Neil, police said.
Neil, a first-year health science student, was critically injured after being assaulted around 2 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 11, near Sarnia and Western roads, just off the university campus. Neil was transported to hospital and later died of his injuries.
During a virtual court hearing Tuesday afternoon, Raselma, who appeared by phone from London police headquarters, was granted release from custody on $10,000 bail with strict conditions, including that he reside with his father who is acting as his surety.
Raselma must remain in the home between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., with some exceptions, including while in the presence of his father, and while directly travelling to, from, and while at work or school.
In addition, Raselma is ordered to hand over his passport to London police and must remain in the province. He must also not possess any weapons as defined by the Criminal Code, and cannot leave his father’s home with alcohol in his system.
The 19-year-old is also ordered to not contact or communicate with at least 10 people. Among them are his co-accused and several civilian witnesses. He must also stay at least 100 metres from where they live, work or go to school.
Raselma is slated to return to court on Jan. 31, the same day his co-accused, Aliyan Ahmed, will make an appearance.
Ahmed, 21, was taken into custody on the day of the assault and charged the following day with manslaughter. During a bail hearing on Sept. 16, he was granted release on $10,000 bail with strict conditions similar to those imposed on Raselma.
Neither have a prior criminal history, according to court records.
Few details have been made public about what transpired on the morning of Sept. 11. Police have declined to issue further information due to the ongoing court proceedings.
The 18-year-old Neil was described by his family in a statement as a “gentle and kind soul who made friends wherever he went.”
Neil, who aspired to become a doctor, was “excited to be starting his first year of Kinesiology at Western,” the statement, issued shortly after his death, read.
Neil’s death was the city’s tenth homicide of 2021.
At the time, police stressed that his death was not associated to allegations of mass drugging and sexual assaults on Western’s campus reported the same weekend.
“These two incidents should, in no way, be connected, and these types of unfounded comments are hurtful to Mr. Neil’s family,” Chief Steve Williams told reporters.
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