Khalila Mohammed walked quickly out of the Ontario Court of Justice Monday afternoon in an effort to avoid being videotaped by a Global News camera, one hour after the judge told her she was being spared jail time.
The 25-year-old former harm reduction worker, who pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to the fatal shooting of Leslieville woman Karoline Huebner-Makarat last December, was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day in addition to 100 hours of community service.
After enhanced credit for nine days in pretrial custody and 22 months of house arrest while awaiting sentencing, Mohammed has 529 days left to serve, which the judge decided will be served in the community.
Ontario Court Justice Russell S. Silverstein ruled the first 300 days of the non-custodial sentence will be served under house arrest except to attend educational programming, employment, counselling, Good Life Fitness, for which she will be allowed two hours daily for travel and workout time, medical appointments, family emergencies and community service.
Mohammed will be subject to a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the remaining 229 days.
According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court last December, Mohammed helped one of the three men charged in relation to the fatal shooting escape detection by police.
“Accessoryship after the fact constitutes an interference with the administration of justice,” said Silverstein. “It frustrates the legitimate investigation of the crime.”
The facts state it is the theory of the Crown that on July 7, 2023, three alleged drug dealers, who were selling drugs outside the South Riverdale Community Centre on Queen Street, which operated a supervised drug injection site, got into an argument.
One of the men could be seen on video surveillance pistol-whipping another man, before a third man robs the second man of his satchel. Moments later, there was an exchange of gunfire, and Huebner-Makurat, a wife and mother to two young children, was struck by a stray bullet.
The bullet went into Huebner-Makurat’s back and through her liver, kidney and aorta, killing her.
Mohammed admitted that after the shooting, she escorted one of the accused shooters, Ahmed Ibrahim who was injured, into the health centre. She also provided Ibrahim with new clothes because his clothes were bloody, helped him out of the South Riverdale Health Centre and to get an Uber out of the area.
The facts also state that text messages between Mohammed and Ibrahim obtained by police establish that “the two had a close relationship that blossomed into a romance immediately after the shooting.”
In those messages, Mohammed suggests to Ibrahim that he “stay away for a while” to avoid being arrested by police.
After suspect images were released by police, Mohammed texted Ibrahim to “get out of the city” and “lay low,” assuring him his bloody clothes were “tucked away” and “gone”.
According to the facts, Mohammed also assures Ibrahim that “the way the surveillance cameras at the site are positioned, they would not have captured the shooting, showing an awareness on her part of Ibrahim’s involvement in the shooting”.
In handing down his sentence, Silverstein said the general range is extremely broad for cases like this, from between 18 months and 3.5 years. Denunciation and general deterrence being the principal factors, the judge said as a youthful first-time offender, the principles of rehabilitation and restraint also apply.
Along with the conditional sentence and community service hours, Mohammed was given a weapons ban and ordered to give a DNA sample. She is prohibited from having any contact with Huebner-Makurat’s widow, parents, or any of the three accused in relation to the fatal shooting.
The Crown said at the end of Monday’s sentencing that all other charges were being withdrawn. Mohammed was also facing a charge of obstructing justice.
The trial for Ibrahim and Damian Hudson, the man police allege fired the bullet that killed Huebner-Makurat, is scheduled to begin this fall.
Ibrahim is charged with manslaughter and robbery, while Hudson is charged with second-degree murder. A third man, Ahmed Ali, is wanted for manslaughter and robbery and remains at large.