Ibrahim Ali faces murder sentencing hearing at B.C. Supreme Court

A sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin this morning in Vancouver for Ibrahim Ali, who was convicted in December of the first-degree murder of a 13-year-old girl from Burnaby, B.C.

Crown lawyer Isobel Keeley told the judge on Thursday that the court can expect to hear victim impact statements from at least seven people, including the girl’s father, brother, and school and family friends.

Ali, who told the judge at a pre-sentencing hearing Thursday that he didn’t kill the girl, will also be given a chance to speak today.

The body of the girl, whose name is protected by a publication ban, was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in July 2017 and Ali was arrested the next year.

A jury took less than 24 hours last December to reach its guilty verdict at the end of an eight-month trial that heard Ali’s DNA matched semen found in the girl’s body.

Ali faces a mandatory life term with no chance of parole for 25 years, and both he and his lawyer are expected to attend the hearing by video.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2024.