Man who killed Mississauga mother of 2 sentenced to life in prison without parole for 18 years

WARNING: This story contains graphic details of violence. 

A man who fatally stabbed his ex-partner in February 2020 has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 18 years. 

Abdiljibar Mahamoud pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Brittney Newman, forgoing a trial. He received his sentence during a virtual hearing in a Brampton court on Friday. He was 27 years old at the time of Newman's death.

Police said Newman died at her Mississauga home on Feb. 9, 2020. Peel police were called to her basement apartment just before 12:30 p.m. They found Newman suffering from what appeared to be stab wounds. She died at the scene.

The ex-couple's two children, both under the age of six, were in the apartment at the time of the stabbing but were not injured, police said. 

According to police, Mahamoud was found inside Newman's apartment and was arrested.

Newman's family and friends said she had been separated from Mahamoud for two years at the time of her murder. They said Mahamoud was abusive and that Newman tried to cut ties numerous times but struggled to become financially independent.

Explaining his reason for the sentence, the judge said "any domestic violence is most serious and clear messages have to be sent."

'It's still pretty haunting'

Donovan Branch, Newman's father, said Friday's sentencing brings some amount of "finality" though he had hoped for a tougher sentence through a trial. 

He said he would "hesitate to call it closure because it's still pretty haunting."

"I would rather have taken my chances going to trial. I carried the fact that my daughter's head was decapitated with me for two years, two years, so no four-week trial is going to help bring me closure," Branch told CBC News following the sentencing.

Branch said "it's hard to grapple with" the sentence, having listened to the premeditation "laid out by the judge."

Branch now has custody of his grandsons, who were three- and five-year-old at the time of their mother's death.

Branch said the boys are still "exhibiting signs" of the trauma.

The boys witnessed their mother's death and were deemed to be in need of immediate psychiatric help, but have been on a wait list for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It wasn't until last weekend that they called to start the therapy, Branch said.

'Sweet, innocent and beautiful'

His daughter was "so sweet, innocent and beautiful," Branch said. 

"She was very shy, she didn't like praise, she didn't like when people called her good looking or anything like that," he said. 

"She was very humble, extremely shy, and if I challenged her she would cry. She was very respectful to her parents … to me, she was an angel," he added. 

Then, she met Mahamoud and "everything just kind of went downhill from there," Branch said. 

"But then, after she broke up, she was alive again, motivated again."

With the sentencing of his daughter's killer behind him, the distraught father said he needs to "look forward"  and "move on" for the sake of his grandkids.

"I'll take these little baby steps and try to have them remember their mom in a more positive way," Branch said. 

"In my victim impact statement, I said the last image they have of their mom is at that scene. So, I'm just going to surround them with images of their mom, talk about her more, and just try to move on."