Man allegedly stabbed to death by son struggles with serious mental health issues overnight Monday in Laval had sounded the alarm to the authorities only three days before the tragedy.
According to our information, Abdelhak Ajaba, 66, had contacted the police no later than last Friday, to help his son. The latter nevertheless took his life, less than 72 hours later.
Yesterday afternoon, Mohamed Reda Ajaba briefly appeared by videoconference, from his hospital bed, at the Laval courthouse.
It took a security guard to wake the 32-year-old so he could be charged with the unpremeditated murder of his own father.
Several patrol cars blocked traffic Monday in front of Place Robin, in Laval-des-Rapides.
MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
“There will be no comments. It might come, but not right away. It just happened. Monsieur is still in the hospital, under sedation,” simply stated his lawyer, Mr.e Thomas McKenzie, after the hearing.
Mr Thomas McKenzie, defense lawyer.
JONATHAN TREMBLAY/LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL
A witness
The previous night, shortly before 3:30 a.m., a conflict between the father and his son apparently escalated outside their residence at Place Robin, in Laval-des-Rapides.
The accused allegedly stabbed his father to death, in front of a neighbor who saw the sad scene, according to our information.
The sixty-year-old, who was notably an administrator of the organization Cible Retour à l’Emploi in Verdun, succumbed to his injuries on his arrival at the hospital.
He was allegedly hit in the abdomen, and several times in the back, by the murder weapon, a knife which was found on site.
The suspect was arrested at the scene, before also being taken to hospital.
Disturbed
Recently hospitalized for his seriously disturbed mental state, it had probably not been long since he was discharged.
Police officers went around Place Robin to question neighbors in the area.
MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
According to our sources, the police even had great difficulty controlling him to transport him during this intervention.
His father then reported to the authorities that his son had not left his room, or had not washed, for two weeks, we are told.
However, we do not know the reasons which would have motivated him to commit the irreparable.
Furthermore, his lawyer does not rule out the possibility of pleading not criminal responsibility.
MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
“This will be evaluated on our side. We have not yet made a decision,” suggested M.e McKenzie, who acknowledged that a psychiatric evaluation was in order.
Robbery
Ajaba has a history of robbery and weapon possession dating back to 2015. He was then sentenced to eight months in prison.
He is also awaiting trial on charges of possession of property obtained by crime and possession of burglary tools.
This was the first homicide of the year in the territory of the Laval City Police Department.
Yesterday, several neighbors were to be met by investigators.
Ajaba’s case is due back in court at the end of the month.
– With Nicolas Brasseur and Maxime Deland