A Montrealer who started shootings at the metro and near a restaurant in broad daylight received 17 years of incarceration on Friday during an emotional hearing, during which the mother of the young man who was shot strongly castigated the man who tried to kill his son.
“Since that day, I have been going through hell because of you. You laugh, but it’s not funny. You ended my son’s life,” the victim’s mother angrily said to Abdallah Bekri.
She walked before the court when she saw Bekri laughing in the accused box at the Longueuil courthouse.
His son Younes Guerfi lives with permanent after-effects after surviving a murder attempt in Brossard. Bekri, 24, admitted his guilt to the crime on Friday afternoon before being sent to prison for 17 years to reflect.
On February 8, 2022, he showed up with two accomplices, Jad Whiby and Cris Ouellette, near the parking lot of a Tim Hortons on Boulevard de Rome, in Brossard.
Jad Whiby Courtesy
About fifteen minutes after their arrival, Bekri approached and shot Younes Guerfi, who was 23 at the time. He was hit in the head. In all, eight shots were fired in the middle of the afternoon, according to surveillance cameras.
The three men then fled by car, but a friend of the victim immediately chased them. He also had to lean down to protect himself from the shots.
On the run
After more gunshots, the two vehicles stopped on the service road of Route 132. Barely a few minutes later, Longueuil police located and arrested the three men who were trying to flee at full speed. leg towards an industrial district, in Candiac.
MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
The day before, Abdallah Bekri had started another shooting, around 7 p.m., in the Peel metro station. Accompanied by a minor, he opened fire on an unknown person, who was not injured. The police found a 7-minute video of this event on his phone.
Bekri was thus sentenced to 11 years in prison for the attempted murder in Brossard and 6 years for the shooting in Montreal, which he will serve consecutively.
Jad Whiby, who also pleaded guilty today to accessory after the fact for the attempted murder on the South Shore, was sentenced to six and a half years in detention. The young man who served as driver, Cris Ouellette, was sentenced in June to six years in prison.
Cris Ouellette Courtesy
Uncertain future
Even if he survived, Younes Guerfi will probably never be the same again. Despite an operation, a piece of projectile is still in his skull. He suffers from epileptic episodes, false memories, memory problems, confusion and disorientation, among other after-effects.
“We live in stress and fear. We are not sure if our son’s problems will continue. […] He was always an ambitious young man. Unfortunately, he finds himself with an uncertain future. His state of health prevents him from living freely,” his relatives said in a letter read to the Court.
“This is a resilient family, but they are making significant human sacrifices due to their boy’s medical condition,” said Crown prosecutor M.e Ève Malouin, specifying that parents must ensure the daily care of their son.
“Anyone who listens to the news or reads the newspaper sees the scourge of gun incidents. There are too many, far too many, lamented Judge Lyne Décarie while handing down her sentences. I hope that while you are in detention, you will think about the consequences for the victim and her entire family.”
– With Valérie Gonthier