Crown drops murder charge, seeks manslaughter conviction in mall stabbing

The only teen to go to trial in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy last year in Halifax is now facing a charge of manslaughter.

The teen, now 17, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of Ahmad Al Marrach, but the Crown said Wednesday it would pursue the lesser charge.

Speaking just before closing arguments got underway, prosecutor Sharon Goodwin told youth court the Crown was no longer confident it could prove the murder charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The accused is one of four teenagers — three boys and a girl — charged in the attack on Al Marrach in a parking garage at the Halifax Shopping Centre on April 22, 2024.

The Crown and the defence agree the accused did not stab Al Marrach, but court previously heard the teen was the one who planned the fight.

The teen has testified he and Al Marrach had been arguing over a girl and agreed to settle their differences in a fist fight at the mall.

Fight was consensual, defence argues

The teen's lawyer, Anna Mancini, argued Wednesday that her client is not guilty of any crime because the fight was consensual.

She urged Judge Elizabeth Buckle to look at the brief altercation as a series of separate incidents, and argued her client had stopped fighting by the time another teen fatally stabbed Al Marrach in the chest.

Mancini described her client as "a petrified kid" who witnessed "a traumatizing scene," and argued that his actions in the aftermath of the stabbing, including deleting messages he'd exchanged with Al Marrach, were understandable.

The Crown countered the fight should be considered as one continuous action, beginning with the text messages setting up the encounter.

Crown says victim did not agree to group fight

Court has heard that the accused agreed to a fair fight with Al Marrach, but advised his friends in a text to "jump in" after 10 seconds. 

"This was not a consensual three-on-one fight," Goodwin told the court, arguing that lack of consent made it a crime.

Buckle is expected to deliver a verdict June 27.

In January, the teen who admitted to stabbing Al Marrach with a stolen knife pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He has not yet been sentenced.

The two other teens charged in the case previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter. 

The girl was sentenced earlier this month to another three months in custody at a youth detention centre, followed by two years of close supervision in the community. The remaining teen is in the middle of the sentencing process.