WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may disturb readers. Discretion is advised.
A friend of a teen girl murdered on the Vancouver-Burnaby border nearly six years ago told a B.C. jury about her last time seeing the victim, Thursday.
Ibrahim Ali has pleaded not-guilty in the 2017 slaying. The names of the victim and the witness are both covered by a publication ban.
The soft spoken witness provided her evidence in Mandarin through an interpreter, and from behind a tall, white screen separating her from the courtroom.
Prior to her testimony, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lance Bernard cautioned the jury not to draw any negative conclusions about the witness or the accused because of the screen.
The witness told the court she last saw her friend at summer school on July 18, 2017, the same day the girl was reported missing. The victim’s body was discovered around midnight that night in a wooded area of Burnaby’s Central Park.
The witness described recording two short videos of her friend on the school playground that day, and how her friend was acting normally the last time she saw her.
She testified that she never saw her friend drink alcohol or use drugs, and said the victim did not have a boyfriend and was not interested in boys. The pair talked about cartoons, anime and math, she said.
Ali’s defence team has yet to cross examine the witness.
Crown’s theory is that Ali grabbed the girl in the park, then fatally strangled her in the course of sexually assaulting her.
Prosecutors have told the jury they will present evidence proving Ali’s DNA was found inside the girl and strongly suggesting non-consensual sexual activity.
The court has previously heard testimony from police and first responders who described finding her body in the park.
Ali’s defence has pressed various witnesses about why they did not stop or collect identification from a man they met in the park while searching for the girl, who claimed he was part of a film crew.
The trial, which could last as long as three months, is slated to resume on Friday.
-With files from Rumina Daya