Third teen charged in Hamilton Mountain parking lot murder
A third 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of 19-year-old Ali Mohummad, who died after a group of young men were ambushed in a Limeridge Road West parking lot last summer.
The teen was arrested May 12 at his west Mountain residence. He is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
He is expected to appear briefly in court by video Thursday.
Two other 17-year-olds also face second-degree murder and aggravated assault charges after being arrested within days of the murder.
Mohummad was among a small group of young men from Peel Region who came to meet with a Hamilton group around 1 a.m. July 19 at a plaza at 310 Limeridge Rd. W., east of Garth Street, Hamilton police say. The plan had been to talk and settle an ongoing dispute between the groups.
Instead, the Hamilton contingent brought a much larger group that ambushed the young men from Peel.
Video from the loud and violent incident showed young men being chased with knives and vehicles. Mohummad was chased through the parking lot into another parking lot of a nearby apartment at 11 Kendale Crt.
Three from the Hamilton group were stabbed. Two from the Hamilton group were hurt when they were hit by cars. They left before police arrived and made their own way to hospital.
It was several hours later when the group realized that one of their friends was missing that police returned to the scene. With the help of police canine, they found Mohummad down a hill, against a fence at the north-west corner of the apartment building property. He died of stab wounds.
In 2020, Hamilton hit a record high number of homicide investigations: 17. Despite the increased workload for detectives, police noted the lead detective in Mohummad's case - Det. Daryl Reid - continued to go through surveillance video and track down witnesses who had not come forward. Just last month, police appealed to the public to identify a key witness on video.
This dedication led to the police identifying one of the knife-yielding attackers," police said in a news release.
The investigation is not done. Police are still looking for anyone who was there or who witnessed the altercation to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Daryl Reid at 905-546-3825.
To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.
Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com