17-year-old accused of murder in Halifax mall stabbing to go on trial in January

The trial ofone of four teenagers accused of killing another teen in an incident at the Halifax Shopping Centre in April of this year has been scheduled to begin in January.

Lawyers for the Crown and the now 17-year-old boy, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, were in court Tuesday morning to set dates for the trial. The teenager is charged with second-degree murder.

The boy is in custody and Judge Elizabeth Buckle said that added some urgency to running the trial as soon as possible.

The earliest dates when all parties are available were in January 2025.The Crown wanted to run the trial for three consecutive weeks, beginning on Jan. 6.

All parties agreed to schedule the first two weeks of the trial in January but Anna Mancini, the boy's lawyer, wants to delay the third weekuntil the spring.

She plans to subpoena two of the other accused teens. Mancini said in the event they want to fight those subpoenas, April trial dates wouldallow fortime to sort our whether theywould appear as witnessesbefore she mounts her defence.

The lawyers will return to court next month to argue when the third week of the trial will proceed.

Ahmad Al Marrach, 16, was stabbed in a parking garage at the shopping mall on April 22. He died later in hospital.

In the spring, two 14-year-olds and two-16-year olds were each charged with second-degree murder.

One of the younger teens, the only girl in the group, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Her case returns to court later this month.

The other two are scheduled to be dealt with in February of next year.