The trial of a man accused of murdering Burnaby teen Marrisa Shen in 2017 has been postponed once again.
The jury has been selected for the trial of Ibrahim Ali, and the trial was scheduled to begin on April 3, but that date has now been pushed back two days to April 5 to “accommodate pre-trial matters,” according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.
Shen’s body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in the early morning hours of July 19, 2017 after her family reported her missing the night before.
Ibrahim Ali was charged with the 13-year-old's murder in September 2018, after a lengthy homicide investigation.
Ali’s jury trial was originally set for September 2020, but jury selection was cancelled a month before it was scheduled to begin, and the court was told the trial wouldn’t start until September 2021.
Since then, numerous pre-trial applications have pushed that start date back five more times, to Jan. 10, 2022, Sept. 19, 2022, Jan. 16, April 3 and now April 5.
Because of a publication ban put in place to ensure a fair trial, media cannot report on the details of the pre-trial applications before the judge.
Ali has been in custody since his September 2018 arrest.
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Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
