Jury begins deliberations in Ibrahim Ali murder trial
Posted December 7, 2023 5:34 pm.
Last Updated December 7, 2023 10:37 pm.
The jury in the Ibrahim Ali trial began deliberating Thursday night and will continue Friday.
The judge spent much of the day giving instructions to the jury, before the jury was excused for deliberations.
The jury is deciding if Ali is guilty or not guilty of first degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl who was found in Burnaby’s central park.
WATCH: Jury receives instructions in Ibrahim Ali trial
The girl can’t be named due to a publication ban.
The child’s body was found in July of 2017 at Burnaby’s Central Park, hours after her mother reported the girl missing.
The roughly eight-month-long trial has seen several delays. The judge was supposed to begin his charge to the jury on Wednesday, but the reason for the latest delay can’t be shared because of another publication ban.
Ali pleaded not guilty when his first-degree murder trial began in April. Over the course of the trial, the jury heard from dozens of Crown witnesses, including experts who said the girl was strangled and that the man’s DNA was found inside her body.
Closing arguments took place last week, days after Ali’s lawyer, Kevin McCullough, said the defence would not be calling any evidence, claiming the Crown hadn’t proved its case against Ali.
Crown attorney Daniel Porte said during his remarks that it had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Ali dragged the girl into a wooded area of Central Park, sexually assaulted her, and then killed her.
