“Horror movie”: eyewitness described fatal stabbing of 16-year-old outside shopping center in Halifax

The homicide trial of a Halifax-area youth accused of participating in the slaying of a 16-year-old student last year began Tuesday with an eyewitness to the fatal stabbing.

The 17-year-old has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the April 22 death of Ahmad Maher Al Marrah, who was pronounced dead in hospital after being found critically injured outside a Halifax shopping centre.

Melanie Adolph told the trial that she had taken her two children to the mall and put them in her car when she heard commotion nearby. The 38-year-old woman said that as she was walking towards a group of a dozen rowdy teenagers in a mall park, she saw a smaller group of four teenagers, two of whom were fighting on the concrete floor.

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Adolph told juvenile court that the three teenagers beat, kicked and stomped on El Marrah as she yelled at them to stop, which they did only momentarily. She said that as Al Marrah was getting to his feet and dusting himself off, another boy pulled out a large kitchen knife and stabbed him in the chest.

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Adolph said she ran to the injured boy as he dropped to one knee and collapsed, blood pouring from his chest.

“It was like something you see in a horror movie,” she told Judge Elizabeth Buckle.

Adolph said she and another bystander applied pressure to the boy’s wound to stop the bleeding, and she said she called 911 after getting no response when she asked members of the growing crowd to call the police.

“Time was going slow and fast at the same time,” she said, adding that the traumatic incident was over in about five to seven minutes.

The name of the accused or any information that can be used to identify him is protected from publication under the Juvenile Criminal Justice Act.

In her opening statement Monday, prosecutor Sarah Kirby said the Crown agreed the accused did not stab Al Marrach. However, Kirby said the evidence would show the defendant planned a group attack that he knew could lead to Al Marrach’s death.

Defense attorney Anna Mancini said the evidence will show her client did not intend to cause death or bodily harm likely to cause death.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 7, 2025.