Man accused of killing Burnaby teen in 2017 pleads ‘not guilty’

B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver
B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, on Tuesday December 11, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

By Charlie Carey and Dean Recksiedler

Posted April 5, 2023 7:42 am.

Last Updated April 5, 2023 6:41 pm.

The man accused in the 2017 killing of a 13-year-old Burnaby girl has pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Ibrahim Ali is charged with first-degree murder in relation to the teen’s death.

Her body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park just hours after security cameras caught her at a coffee shop near her home on July 18.

Ali was arrested more than a year later in September 2018.

Police say Ali came to Canada in 2016 as a refugee and had since become a permanent resident. He had been living and working in Burnaby and did not have a criminal record.

The jury trial started Wednesday.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to remove the victim’s name, which is now covered by a publication ban.

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