Nova Scotia

Teen to be sentenced next year after guilty plea in Halifax mall stabbing case

A teen who pleaded guilty for his role in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old last spring at a Halifax shopping mall parkade will undergo a psychiatric-psychological assessment before he is sentenced next year.

Ahmad Al Marrach, 16, was stabbed in parking garage and later died in hospital

A police vehicle and tape block a pedestrian entrance to a parking garage.
Halifax Regional Police are shown at the Halifax Shopping Centre parkade following the April 22 stabbing.  (Dave Laughlin/CBC)

A teen who pleaded guilty for his role in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old last spring at a Halifax shopping mall parkade will undergo a psychiatric-psychological assessment before he is sentenced in February.

Halifax youth court Judge Bronwyn Duffy ordered the assessment, as well as a presentence report, Wednesday after accepting the 17-year-old's guilty plea to manslaughter.

The accused was one of four teens originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of Ahmad Al Marrach, who was stabbed in a parking garage of the Halifax Shopping Centre on April 22. He died later in hospital.

One of the other accused, a 14-year-old girl, has also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will be sentenced next year.

The two remaining accused still face second-degree murder charges and will go on trial next year.  

All the names of the accused are banned from publication.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Cuthbertson is a journalist with CBC Nova Scotia. He can be reached at richard.cuthbertson@cbc.ca.