Dad mourns teen son as two 17-year-olds charged with second-degree murder

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The grieving dad of an 18-year-old high schooler has identified his son as the person killed in a Friday night homicide, one of two suspicious deaths that police say happened within hours of each other in different parts of London.

Abdul Hashim told The Free Press his son, Abdul, was killed Friday night after he was stabbed in the parking lot of the public housing complex where they lived at 1057 Southdale Rd. E., just east of Millbank Drive.

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“I’m confused and lost,” said the elder Hashim, who immigrated to Canada in 2015 with his family from Myanmar, in Southeast Asia.

Hashim said he knew few details about the circumstances around the death of his son, who attended Sir Wilfrid Laurier secondary school. London police have announced second-degree murder charges against two 17-year-old males whose names can’t be published under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. They’re in custody, police said.

The elder Hashim said he was in his house around 10 p.m. with his other children when he heard screams outside. “When I came out, he was already in the ambulance,” Hashim said.

The incident is one of two “suspicious” Friday night deaths police said they were investigating.

Police say officers were called at about 10 p.m. to the Southdale Road East complex after receiving reports of a disturbance. At the scene, they located a man with life-threatening injuries. The victim was taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The second suspicious death happened around midnight, police said, when officers responded to the area of Wharncliffe and Western roads following reports of a medical emergency. There, police say officers found a woman with life-threatening injuries.

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The woman was taken to hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, police said. A neighbour told The Free Press the woman was in her 60s.

Saturday morning, a police officer stood outside apartment 504 at 345 Wharncliffe Rd. N., a public housing building located just north of the Wharncliffe Road-Oxford Street intersection.

“She was kind-hearted. We didn’t talk much but she was a nice lady,” said Ivonia James, who lives in a unit near the one being guarded by police.

James said the woman lived with her partner in the unit.

There’s no ongoing risk to public safety in relation to either of the investigations, police said Saturday.

But residents of the Southdale Road complex expressed shock over the teenager’s homicide and described a chaotic scene as a fight unfolded in the complex.

Ail Trk said he was in his house around 10 p.m. when he heard someone scream: “Help.” When he went outside, he said he saw two young-looking men having an altercation with a third one, before one of them was stabbed twice.

“When they saw me come out, they covered their faces and ran out,” Trk said, adding he called 911.

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Saturday morning, police had an area cordoned off just a few metres away from Trk’s house. Two blood stains could be seen on the ground, next to orange cones set by police. A second area was also cordoned off by police within the same complex.

“It’s one continuous crime scene,” London police spokesperson Const. David Easter said, adding he could provide no more information about any arrests in either case.

A third resident in the complex, who only identified herself as Michelle, said she was saddened by the slaying and it made her worried about her own daughter, who lives with her.

“I just feel so sad,” she said. “This was a young guy whose life was just starting.”

London police’s major crime unit is investigating both deaths.

The complex and the apartment building where the deaths happened are both operated by London Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH).

“LMCH is committed to ensuring the safety of our community, and we understand that this situation is concerning to residents who live at these properties and within the immediate community,” the housing agency said in an emailed statement to The Free Press.

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“We are actively assessing the additional tenant support needed and our staff will be available to support our tenants throughout these incidents. There will also be increased safety team presence at both properties to aid any tenants needing support.”

The townhouse complex at Southdale Road and Milbank Drive has been the scene of past violent crimes, including the fatal stabbing of Mohammed Abdallah on Aug. 29, 2021.

There has only been one homicide in London this year, compared with seven in all of 2023: On March 30, Malik Edwards, 21, died in the hospital two days after he got into a fight with a man on Richmond Street near John Street downtown at 1:20 a.m. Uber driver Julius Enongene, 47, of London, is charged with manslaughter.

Anyone with information about either investigation is asked to call London police at 519-661-5670.

With files from Free Press reporter Dale Carruthers.

jjuha@postmedia.com

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