HALIFAX — A 17-year-old Halifax-area boy has been sentenced 10 months in a youth detention centre for his role in the stabbing death of a high school student during a brawl over a girl.
On Friday, provincial youth court Judge Mark Heerema also sentenced the accused to 17 months of supervision in the community, during which he will continue receiving intensive rehabilitative treatment to deal with mental health issues.
Heerema described the crime as “senseless, tragic and profoundly unfair.”
The 27-month sentence was added to the 15 months the young offender has spent in custody since 16-year-old Ahmad Al Marrach was murdered in a parkade next to the Halifax Shopping Centre on April 22, 2024.
The young offender pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October, having admitted he was one of four teens who attacked Al Marrach. The identities of all four of the accused are protected from publication under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Each of them was initially charged with second-degree murder.
During previous court hearings, Heerema was shown a series videos showing the group attack and murder. The images were recorded by surveillance cameras in the parkade and by one of the accused — a girl with a cellphone who was 14 at the time.
“It does not get easier to see such cruelty,” Heerema told the court Friday, adding that Al Marrach was the victim of an ambush.
In the videos, Heerema said the 17-year-old can been seen kicking and punching Al Marrach, with about 15 kicks landing on his head after he falls to the pavement. As well, the judge said the accused can been seen brandishing a knife at one point. Court heard that all four of the accused teens were armed with knives when they arrived at the parking garage in the city's west end.
Heerema said it was clear the accused knew Al Marrach faced a risk of serious bodily harm. And the judge noted the accused demonstrated a “cruel and profound lack of humanity” when he casually walked away after another teen stabbed the victim in the chest.
“It captures how cold and callous his actions were that day,” the judge said.
Earlier in his life, the young offender had suffered through a turbulent upbringing and was known for drug use, bullying and criminal behaviours that included robbery, assault, breaking and entering, and mischief, Heerema said.
At one point, the accused told his mother he wanted to be a gangster and he bragged about his “tough guy” criminal lifestyle.
Still, Heerema said reports submitted to him had suggested the boy had recently said he wanted to turn his life around and submit to intensive counselling, having rejected it in the past.
“A skeptic might say he just wants a lighter sentence,” the judge said, adding that some reports had said the offender’s improvement in recent months had not been significant.
The judge then spoke directly to the teen, saying, “You’re at a fork in the road. Take a look in the mirror. What kind of man do you want to be?”
As for the victim, Heerema said the Grade 10 student “was a thoughtful, caring and contributing member of his family.”
Court heard Al Marrach was a well-liked student at Citadel High School in Halifax. He had arrived in Canada with his parents and six siblings in 2016 after escaping the war in Syria.
In October of last year, the accused girl pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to three months in custody followed by two years of supervision in the community.
The boy who fatally stabbed Al Marrach, who was 14 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January. His sentencing hearing will resume Sept. 12.
Meanwhile, another 17-year-old boy who the Crown said was responsible for organizing the fight, was convicted of manslaughter last month by a youth court judge. His week-long sentencing hearing starts Oct. 20.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2025.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
