5 men face charges in connection with Mohamed Najdi homicide
Andrew Foote | CBC News | Posted: April 9, 2016 10:07 PM | Last Updated: April 11, 2016
Najdi, 28, killed in 'targeted, gang-related shooting' on Jan. 10
Five men from Ottawa have been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with the January shooting death of Mohamed Najdi.
Four of the five were arrested on Saturday and briefly appeared by video in an Ottawa courtroom Sunday. They are:
- Alaa Asiri, 33,
- Ali Elenezi, 18,
- Lual Lual, 26,
- Mohamud Yusuf, 25.
A fifth man, 32-year-old Mohamed Mohamed, was already in jail on different charges.
Police allege in their charge sheet that the five accused and an unidentified male pulled up in a black Chevrolet Suburban and attacked Najdi and another man as they sat in a parking lot at 10 Claremont Drive, east of downtown Ottawa, the night of Jan. 10.
The other man was bound with duct tape and put in the Suburban, police allege. Najdi fought the accused off and was shot in the back by Mohamed when he tried to run away, police say.
He was taken to the Ottawa Hospital's General campus trauma unit in critical condition, where he later died from his injuries.
At the time of his death, sources told CBC Ottawa that Najdi was also a witness in the 2015 shooting death of Sharif Said.
Najdi's death was Ottawa's first homicide of 2016.
Video, DNA evidence
Police say the kidnapping victim told them that a group of people wearing masks drove him to Orléans, where they got rid of the firearms used in the shooting, and then drove him back downtown.
Najdi's then-girlfriend told police he said he would be going out for a few minutes. Hours later, however, four of the accused showed up with the still-captive kidnapping victim and took some of Najdi's belongings before leaving, police say.
Police allege in the charge sheet that a black Suburban which had allegedly been seen parked outside the home of Najdi and the kidnapping victim had been stopped by Gatineau police a few hours before the homicide.
Asiri was behind the wheel and three other people were inside, along with two flat screen televisions, according to the charge sheet.
Elenezi was caught on camera inside an Orléans gas station wearing a gold Spiderman chain that belonged to Najdi, police allege.
Police also allege that forensic testing showed Asiri's DNA on a balaclava found near the crime scene and Lual's DNA on a piece of duct tape found inside the Suburban.
Mohamed is expected to return to court April 15, while the four other accused are scheduled to return April 25.
They have each been ordered not to communicate with a list of more than 20 people.