A first-degree murder trial for a man accused of killing an 18-year-old from Winnipeg got off to a rocky start on Monday, after his defence counsel fell ill.
In court, the attorney for Walid Adam Mohamed asked that the trial be adjourned until later on in the day but didn’t return saying she was in-hospital receiving medical care.
For the father of Mohammed Omar, the process has already been painful enough after learning of his son’s death in April 2016.
“Every moment, every second I miss my son. I go to his grave every day, I miss him a lot,” Mohammed’s father Khattab Karim said in Saskatoon.
WATCH BELOW: Mohammed Omar’s father Khattab Karim speaks about late son
He had braced himself at court to hear the brutal details of how his son died but will now have to wait until Tuesday for witnesses to take the stand after this unforeseen delay in the trial.
“I pray for all parents to not lose a child because it’s too hard,” Karim said weeping outside of court.
On April 24, 2016, Walid Adam Mohamed was taken into custody in connection to Omar’s death.
This, after police and paramedics received a call of a stabbing in progress in the 700-block of Central Avenue. There they found Omar unconscious and suffering from stab wounds. He would be pronounced dead on scene.
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With the assistance of eye witnesses, police immediately arrested Walid Mohamed, who has since been the subject of a psychiatric assessment to see if he was even fit to stand trial.
At the time of the incident, Saskatoon police believed an altercation between the two started in a vehicle nearby. An argument that would spill into the street then escalate inside a business where Omar took his last breath.
The two were believed to have known each other, the family of the victim would later reveal that they were friends.
“I get my children here to be in a safe country we came from the worst country to here,” Karim said.
“I want to see the justice.”
If defence counsel is feeling well enough, the trial will recommence on Tuesday and is scheduled to run three weeks.
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