Media wait outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday June 2, 2015. A trial has heard that a 13-year-old girl from Burnaby, B.C., was passing through a neighbourhood park when she was dragged into the forest by Ibrahim Ali, sexually assaulted and strangled. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – A trial has heard that a 13-year-old girl from Burnaby, B.C., was passing through a neighbourhood park when she was dragged into the forest by Ibrahim Ali, sexually assaulted and strangled.
In an opening statement at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Crown attorney Isobel Keeley told the jury the trial will hear evidence that will show the murder was random, but DNA evidence proves Ali sexually assaulted her.
Ali is charged with first-degree murder and entered a not guilty plea before the jury earlier this month.
The body of the girl, whose name is protected under a publication ban, was found in Burnaby’s Central Park on July 18, 2017, just hours after her mother had reported her missing.
Keeley told jury members that cell phone and bank records prove Ali was in Burnaby that day.
She said they will hear evidence that shows the sex was not consensual and that the girl’s body remained on the forest floor until it was found by police.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.
