MANDEL: Man who pleaded to manslaughter in death of Leslieville mom gets 10 years
· Toronto Sun
He helped set in motion the devastating gunfight on a clear summer’s day in Leslieville that ended the life of a beloved mother, daughter, wife and friend.
In a downtown courtroom Monday, as widower Adrian Makurat watched on Zoom from his family’s new home in British Columbia, Ahmed Ibrahim was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty last fall to manslaughter in the senseless death of Karolina “Caroline” Huebner-Makurat . With credit for pre-sentence custody, the 23-year-old has six years left to serve.
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The actual shooter, Damian Hudson, was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and has yet to be sentenced. The second gunman is still at large. While he didn’t fire a weapon, Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell found Ibrahim likely knew the men were armed and robbing Hudson created a dangerous situation that led to the death of an innocent bystander.
It was about 12:30 p.m. on July 7, 2023, when a violent fight erupted on Queen St. E. outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre where the former “safe injection site” was known to attract drug dealers. Ibrahim and the “man in black” were executing their plan to rob Hudson of his satchel of drugs and money when the gunfire erupted.
Huebner-Makurat, 44, was crossing Queen St. to meet close friend Danielle Bablich for lunch when one of Hudson’s bullets struck her in the back, slicing through her liver, kidney and aorta.
At 1:40 p.m. her disbelieving husband asked the surgeon, “Is she gone?” He then had to break the horrific news to their little girls, aged just four and seven.
‘A bad thing has happened’
“A bad thing has happened. Mama, who we all love so much, has passed away and we won’t be able to see her alive ever again,” he recalled telling them in his heartbreaking victim impact statement entered in court in February.
“Unfortunately, Mama was doing her own thing and was passing by near some bad guys that do bad things, and she got hurt, lost a lot of blood and isn’t alive anymore.”
There have been so many difficult conversations since and last year, Makurat wanted to document their feelings. “I feel sad at times. I don’t like bad guys. I wish Mama was here,” the now 10-year-old told him.
Her sister, now 7, can no longer recall her mom’s voice.
“I don’t remember holding her and I don’t know what kind of clothes she’s wearing in heaven,” she said. “I miss you, Mama.”
For Ibrahim’s role in stealing their mother, the Crown sought 10 years; the defence, seven. The judge said she would have imposed a term closer to 12 years.
“Mr. Ibrahim participated in a planned and violent robbery. He placed numerous people at risk of harm or death. He did so out of greed — to obtain money and drugs from Mr. Hudson,” the judge said.
Four-year record of violent crime
She also pointed to Ibrahim’s four-year record of violent crime by the tender age of 20. She called his prospects at rehabilitation “not encouraging.”
But Forestell gave him credit for his difficult background as a young Black man raised in poverty: the second oldest of nine siblings, he came from Sudan at the age of four and lived in Teesdale Place social housing, was placed in foster care for a time, and was expelled from high school three times for fighting. She also reduced his sentence due to harsh lockdowns and triple bunking in pre-sentence detention.
What a stark contrast his life has been to that of the woman whose life was taken.
Her parents were immigrants as well — they came from Communist Poland in search of the same better life. Their only child graduated from three universities, travelled the world, even helped the Canadian Space Agency to train astronauts to use the Canadarm.
“Caroline should still be here. She should be walking her daughters to school, laughing loudly at lunch and showing up for the people she loved as she always did. Instead we are left to grieve a life stolen far too soon,” Bablich had told the court.
Just before his wife left to meet Bablich that day, Makurat recalled she applied some of his coconut lip balm and then gave him a quick kiss goodbye.
“She walked up our driveway, turning back while smiling to say, ‘I love this taste and we should kiss more often’ and like that, those were her final words anyone who knew her well would ever hear. As she walked away, it was the last time I would ever see her alive again,” Makurat said.
“Remember that the next time you say goodbye to someone. It may be the last time, forever.”