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

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.