Murder charges have been laid against a 16-year-old suspect in the violent death of a Surrey resident on Dec. 17.
The suspect, whose name cannot be release because of his age, was initially charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon last week. He has now been charged with second-degree murder, according to police.
Investigators recommended Crown counsel upgrade the charges to murder after the victim, 19-year-old Karim Meskine died, according to a media release from the Integrated Homicide Investigations Team.
Meskine was walking near the 22nd Street SkyTrain station when the suspect allegedly attacked him and tried to rob him. The attempted robbery led to an alleged assault with a weapon that left Meskine in a coma, as The Record previously reported.
"Karim was the innocent victim of an unprovoked attack and was found unconscious by a passerby who called 911 for help. Karim's family is devastated by this incident and is at a loss for words. This is one of the saddest cases I have been a part of all these years at IHIT," said Sgt. Bari Emam, spokesperson for the investigation team, in a media release.
Friends of Meskine say they will remember him as a quiet kid who loved playing soccer and could make everyone laugh.
“Because we went to such a small school we’d have classes that were only four of us, so a lot of the time I was in class with him, and once you get to know him he’s a really, really funny guy and he’d just make everyone laugh,” said Margaret Betrand.
Bertrand and Meskine were both students at École Gabrielle Roy, a francophone school in Surrey, from kindergarten right until they graduated together in 2012.
Bertrand said she was shocked when she heard the news about Meskine.
“I didn’t believe something like this would happen to him,” she said. “I’ve never seen him hurt anybody, … he would never do anything to hurt anyone and so for something this tragic to happen to him, it’s just not something that I think would ever happen to him.”
Bertrand and her fellow graduates of Gabrielle Roy have organized a dinner in memory of Meskine tonight (Monday) at Wings in Surrey. Everyone is invited to attend, and organizers will be collecting donations for Meskine's family. For more information, visit www.faceboook.com/events and search for "dinner in memory of Karime Meskine."
A trust fund has also been set up with TD Canada Trust to help Meskine’s family pay for burial costs. Anyone wishing to donate can do so at any TD branch using branch number 9028 and account number 6083916. If anyone wants to send e-transfers they can do so via the email [email protected].
