Marrisa Shen (October 20, 2003 – July 18, 2017) was a 13-year-old

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

girl who was

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

d and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ed in a wooded area in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. Shen was reported missing by her parents on the evening of July 18, 2017, after she failed to return home from what was supposed to be a brief trip to a nearby

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

. Early the next morning, police located her body in the park by tracking the

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

device inside her mobile phone. The

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

stated the attack appeared to be random. After Shen's murder, the RCMP told parents to talk to their children about safety and warned the public to be vigilant. At its peak, nearly three hundred officers were involved in the investigation. Some "2,000 persons of interest" were investigated and were ruled out in the case. There was little progress in the case for more than a year and on the one-year anniversary of Shen's murder, her family issued a letter asking the public's assistance in locating and bringing her attacker to justice. On September 7, 2018, the RCMP arrested Ibrahim Ali, a Syrian refugee, for Shen's murder. He was found guilty of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

on December 8, 2023.

Suspect

After a 14-month impasse from the date of the murder, on September 7, 2018, RCMP arrested Ibrahim Ali (born in 1990 in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

) as the

prime suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

for the murder of Marrisa Shen. Police used a DNA dragnet technique to identify the suspect. Ali was charged with

. Ali had arrived in Canada as a refugee from Syria in April 2017, three months before the murder of Shen. He was sponsored by a coalition of families on

Bowen Island Bowen Island (originally Nex̱wlélex̱m in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), British Columbia, is an island municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver. Bowen Island is within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust. Located in Howe Sound, it is approximate ...

, as well as Vancouver's St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church. Ali became a permanent resident of Canada sometime before his first court appearance on September 14, with the trial initially set for October 12, 2018, but subsequently pushed back to September 2022, and then again to January 2023. Jury selection began in March 2023, and the trial commenced in April 2023.

Legal proceedings

Trial

Ali was tried by a judge and jury, with the trial beginning on April 5, 2023. At the same time, a publication ban was put in place for all publications, removing any mentions of Shen's name from the media until the end of the trial. Ali pleaded not guilty, stating he did not kill Shen. Sexual assault expert Dr. Tracy Pickett, who testified for the prosecution, was found dead in Vancouver's

Dunbar–Southlands Dunbar–Southlands is a neighbourhood on the western side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that stretches north from the Fraser River and covers most of the land between the mouth of the Fraser and English Bay. This neighbourhood consist ...

neighbourhood on September 28, 2023. Police stated there was no foul play. Her testimony was consequently thrown out since it could not be

cross-examined In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and m ...

. Ali was found guilty of

on December 8, 2023.

Politicization

Ali's status as a recent Syrian refugee raised questions about Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

immigration policy Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

. Ali's court appearances were picketed by protesters calling for "comprehensive

security screening A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is a ...

" for refugee migration from Syria and to "hold Trudeau accountable." Members of the Syrian-Canadian community also held vigils in remembrance of Shen, oftentimes alongside the protests opposing refugee migration from Syria. The discussion surrounding the killing became a significant point of contention during the February 2019 federal by-election for

Burnaby South Burnaby South (french: Burnaby-Sud) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia. It encompasses a portion of British Columbia previously included in the electoral districts of Burnaby—Douglas and Burnaby—New Westminster. Burnaby ...

, with People's Party candidate Laura-Lynn Thompson integrating Shen's death into her anti-immigration platform. Karen Wang, a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate who later renounced her candidacy for the by-election due to an unrelated racism scandal, was also a known family friend of the Shen family. Additionally,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Michelle Rempel Michelle Rempel Garner (''née'' Godin; born February 14, 1980) is a Canadian politician who sits in the House of Commons as the member of Parliament (MP) for the Alberta riding of Calgary Nose Hill. A member of the Conservative Party, she was i ...

invoked Shen's murder in a call for immigration screening review reform. A spokesperson for Shen's mother communicated that while she appreciates the attention given to Marrisa's murder, she does not want the case to become political—instead, "they should focus on the violence against women and children in our society, especially

women of colour The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

References

External links