Teen convicted of manslaughter in death of Ahmad Al Marrach in Halifax parking garage

A teenager accused of instigating a deadly ambush of a 16-year-old boy has been found guilty of manslaughter.

The verdict was handed down Tuesday morning in Nova Scotia Youth Court.

The 17-year-old, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, challenged the victim, Ahmad Al Marrach, to a fight in a series of aggressive text messages. The pair exchanged messages in the hours leading up to their confrontation in a parking garage at the Halifax Shopping Centre on April 22, 2024. 

While the text messages discussed a fair, one-on-one fight, the teen was actually plotting with some of his friends for them to jump into the fight seconds after it began.

It was one of those friends who fatally stabbed Al Marrach. The 15-year-old has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. His sentencing begins on Friday.

The teen convicted on Tuesday was the only one to test the charges at trial. He had initially been charged with second-degree murder. But the Crown indicated in April that they were no longer pursuing that more serious charge, and the teen was instead facing a manslaughter charge. 

His other two accomplices, a boy and girl, each pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The court was told on Tuesday that the girl has already breached the conditions of her sentence and has been re-arrested and is back in custody. She had been serving an intensive rehabilitative sentence which included three months in jail, followed by close supervision in the community.

The other teen who entered a guilty plea is to be sentenced next month.

The Crown is still weighing whether to seek an adult sentence for the latest conviction. They say their decision will depend in part on psychological and psychiatric reports that are being prepared as part of the sentencing process.

Sentencing is set for the fall.

The teen's lawyer had argued that her client should be found not guilty because he didn't know his friend was going to use a knife. But the Crown had argued that the fatal stabbing was a direct result of the fight started by the teen on trial.

"If a group decides to do something together and one of that group does something else that causes harm ... If that something else, the general nature of it is reasonably foreseeable, then the whole group can be held responsible," Crown Prosecutor Sarah Kirby said outside court.

In a victim impact statement read in court in January, Al Marrach's mother said she dies a thousand times a day without her son. 

With the help of a translator, Basima Al Jaji described a life devoid of joy and affection as part of the sentencing for the two teens who pleaded guilty to manslaughter. 

The victim's sister, her voice barely above a whisper, spoke about how she didn't believe the news at first that her brother had died. She said when she woke up on the first day after his death, she ran into every room in their home, looking for him. 

Al Marrach's family came to Canada in 2016 as refugees from Syria. After his death, his family remembered Al Marrach as someone who looked after his brothers and sisters.  

Crown Prosecutor Terry Nickerson said the outcome of the four cases was a good one.

"I think it sends a clear message that the system does work and time and effort and cooperation with the police and with the authorities and sometimes a little patience is rewarded."