Hamilton police charge 4th person in deadly Mount Hope home invasion

Hamilton police have arrested a fourth person after a deadly home invasion and kidnapping last year.

In the early hours of Sept. 16, 2021, according to police, Hasnain (Nano) Ali, 21, and his brother were shot while trying to protect their father from kidnappers at their home near Glancaster and Dickenson roads in Mount Hope.

Police said the kidnappers took off in an SUV with 63-year-old father Faqir Ali, who was later found severely beaten near a lift bridge on Beach Boulevard.

His wife and daughter were in the home too, but weren't harmed.

The two adult sons were taken to hospital and Hasnain died.

Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk said previously police were still investigating the motive behind the attack but said money was involved.

"The accused was looking for money from Mr. Ali. I won't say specifically how much money but a sum was obviously demanded for and no money has ever been obtained," he said.

"They didn't achieve their end goal, so that's very much a focus of our investigation."

He added there were no demands made by the kidnappers and the family was not known to Hamilton police.

Antoine Chambers, 25, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and numerous firearms charges in October last year.

More recently, in September, John Barley, 25, and Gino McCall, 35 were charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault.

Accused worked as community organizer

On Thursday, police charged a fourth person, Samson Dekamo, 27, with adult kidnapping.

Dekamo was previously a program director at the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI). HCCI released a statement saying Dekamo's contract with the organization ended in March 2022 and he hasn't been affiliated with HCCI since his contract ended. 

"We were unaware of the charges laid against Dekamo or his alleged involvement in the case until being made aware by news publications," read the statement on Thursday.

Dekamo has also worked with HWDSB Kids Need Help (now called Hamilton Students for Justice).

In 2020, the Hamilton Public Library partnered with youth-focused organization NTRL "to help youth develop their talents," referring to NTRL as a Hamilton-based incubator and Dekamo as its director of operations.

The Hamilton Arts Council lists Dekamo in its member profiles, saying he "developed and implemented a youth-led music program for at-risk teenagers, with the aim of connecting hundreds of youth to career opportunities in local art industries in Hamilton and across the Greater Toronto Area."

Dekamo was also featured in a discussion with CBC Hamilton in June 2020 on anti-Black racism and policing. In it, he explained his support for defunding police services. 

"Some people get confused because they believe defunding means completely taking away all funds and abolishing police," he said at the time. "It's the idea that some of the money from Hamilton's police budget... could be put into community work and could make a dramatic change."

Canada's open government database shows three of the accused — Barley, Chambers and Dekamo — are listed as corporation directors of a business called Illin Inc. It was incorporated on Jan. 19, according to the website.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.