HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia judge has sentenced a teenage girl to three months in a youth detention centre for her role in the stabbing death last year of 16-year-old Halifax high school student Ahmad Al Marrach.
Provincial youth court Judge Mark Heerema told court Thursday there was a "shocking absence of basic human decency or compassion" in the girl's criminal actions: "(She) was not the person who physically stabbed the victim, but her actions were instrumental in bringing it about."
The girl, who was 14 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October, having admitted she was one of four teens who attacked Al Marrach inside a parking garage at the Halifax Shopping Centre in the city's west end.
Heerema decided that her time in custody will include an intensive rehabilitation program, followed by two years of supervision in the community. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the girl was facing a maximum sentence of three years in custody or in a rehabilitation program. She has been in custody since shortly after the killing on April 22, 2024.
The girl and three teenage boys were originally charged with second-degree murder. Their identities are protected from publication under the act.
One of the boys, who was 14 at the time, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder, admitting that he was the one who stabbed the Grade 10 student with a stolen kitchen knife. Another boy, who was 17 at the time, pleaded guilty in October to manslaughter. Both are awaiting sentencing.
The third boy, who was also 17 at the time, was charged with second-degree murder for his role in planning the attack. His trial started in January.
Court heard the deadly brawl was prompted by a disagreement over a girl involved with Al Marrach and one of the accused.
Heerema said one of the 17-year-old boys had agreed via text message to have a one-on-one fight with Al Marrach. But an agreed statement of facts submitted to court makes it clear that all four of the assailants had planned to join the fight.
"This was a cowardly attack on the victim — it was a trap," Heerema said, adding that the evidence included surveillance footage from within the garage and a video of the fight recorded on the girl's cellphone. "They baited him under the guise of this being a one-on-one fight."
The judge also noted that Al Marrach was unarmed, as all the teens had agreed. But the four others had in fact armed themselves with knives.
"They displayed the worst in humanity," the judge said. "The victim displayed much bravery and strength in fending off his attackers. (The girl) and her friends showed the opposite. Their actions were cowardly, cruel and callous."
Throughout the videos, the girl can be heard "egging on" her companions, encouraging them to continue fighting with Al Marrach, even though the skirmish appears to stop a number of times.
At one point, Al Marrach can be seen grabbing the girl’s boyfriend, and as the two fall to the ground, the girl screams: “Get the f--- off my man!” The girl kicked Al Marrach in the head several times, and the two boys then separated for about 20 seconds.
The statement of facts says that during the commotion that followed, the 14-year-old boy, "who is holding a large knife in his right hand, steps toward Ahmad, lifts his right hand above his shoulder and plunges the knife into the centre of Ahmad’s chest.”
Heerema told Al Marrach's family that "society mourns the absolutely senseless loss you have suffered." He said the boy was a cherished member of the family known for looking after his younger siblings by bathing and feeding them, and putting them to bed.
"There's a profound and deep unfairness to this," the judge said, noting that the girl will have the opportunity to reach many milestones in her life but Al Marrach will not.
The judge went on to describe the girl's troubled home life. He also drew attention to statements her mother made claiming Al Marrach had struck the girl during the fight. That prompted an outburst of anger from members of Al Marrach's family, who were quickly ushered out of the courtroom by sheriff's deputies.
"The description provided by the mother is blatantly not true," Heerema said as calm was restored.
He went on to say the girl deserved credit for pleading guilty to the criminal charge, and he said she had accepted responsibility for her actions and had apologized.
"I do believe you have some insight into what you did," he said. "But I think that's still developing. You're still young."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2025.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
