Trial of 4 teens charged in deadly mall stabbing postponed until 2025

The trial of four Halifax-area teenagers accused of murdering another youth outside a shopping mall is being postponed until next year.

The teens — two 16-year-old boys, a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy — are charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Ahmad Maher Al Marrach, 16. Al Marrach was stabbed in a parking lot at the Halifax Shopping Centre on April 22 and died later in hospital.

The teenagers were scheduled to go to trial in Nova Scotia youth court starting on Sept. 23. But Judge Bronwyn Duffy agreed to delay the trial during a hearing Friday morning after the lawyer for one of the accused asked for an adjournment.

Christa Thompson, who represents the 14-year-old boy, told the court the disclosure of evidence she and the other defence lawyers are receiving from the Crown is “voluminous” and still coming in.

She said the last of the disclosure isn’t expected to be complete until November and her client wasn’t prepared to give up his right to receive and study all of the information before making final decisions on his defence.

The lawyers for the other three accused said they did not object to the request for the delay, agreeing there has been a huge amount of material released by the Crown. The three Crown attorneys also said they had no objection to an adjournment, so it was granted by the judge.

The trial is now scheduled to start on Feb. 24, 2025.

There are other issues to be dealt with in the meantime, including a request by one of the 16-year-old boys to have his trial separated from the other three. That severance request is being argued next month.

There are a number of other pretrial motions that will be heard in the coming months.

One of the 16-year-olds was present in the courtroom during Friday’s hearing. The 14-year-old boy and the other 16-year-old did not appear, while the 14-year-old girl appeared by video from the Waterville youth detention centre.

The girl had been released on bail in June but her lawyer informed the court that her release had been revoked. None of the other three has applied for release.

The identities of the four accused are banned from publication.