WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may disturb readers. Discretion is advised.
The trial of a man accused of killing a young teen girl nearly six years ago on the Vancouver-Burnaby border will hear that he strangled and sexually assaulted her, before leaving her body in Central Park, a Crown prosecutor told jurors Friday.
Ibrahim Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the July 18, 2017 death. The victim’s name is protected by a publication ban.
Over the next two months, the jury will hear from an estimated 50 witnesses and see graphic photographic evidence that Crown prosecutor Isobel Keeley warned jurors may be difficult to see.
Keeley told the jury that on the day of her death, the teen woke up early, said goodbye to her mother and went to summer school.
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She returned home for lunch with her mom, followed by a visit to Tim Hortons, where CCTV footage captured the last moments she was seen alive.
The victim never returned home and was reported missing. Keeley told the court that Burnaby RCMP focused its attention on Central Park after pinging the girl’s mobile phone.
Keeley told the jury that Ali and the girl did not know one another, and that she was likely walking or jogging in Central Park with her headphones in when “she encountered Ibrahim Ali on a trail. He attacked —- and dragged her off the pathway into the forest.”
“He strangled her, inflicting fatal injuries,” she added.
Keeley said the Crown will prove that Ali’s DNA was found inside the teen’s body and that evidence strongly suggests nonconsensual sexual activity.
“There are no eyewitnesses to the murder,” Keeley said, but told jury members that cellphone and bank records prove Ali was in Burnaby that day.
Keeley said the jury will hear the girl sustained multiple injuries, including to her face, scalp, arms and legs, but the forensic pathologist will testify that strangulation was the cause of the death.
Jurors also heard from the trial’s first witness Monday, RCMP Const. Richard Huggins, who choked up on the stand and said “I’m sorry” as he described arriving in the dark and quiet park to search for the teen.
Huggins told the jury how he found a pink wallet, phone and student ID card with the girl’s name on it.
Moments later, a dog handler called for help, he testified, and he saw the teen lying on the ground. Her skin was pale and she was not breathing, he told the court.
Under cross examination, Ali’s lawyer questioned Huggins on why he didn’t get a name or identification from an unknown man he spoke with in the forest who claimed to be part of a film crew.
Huggins told the court he spoke to the man before the teen’s body was found.
— with files from Rumina Daya and the Canadian Press
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