The murder of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby park nearly seven years ago dropped like a "mountain" on the shoulders of her family, her father told the court at her killer’s sentencing hearing this week.
"(My daughter) may be gradually forgotten by others, but this mountain will forever burden my family and me until we leave this world," the father said in a pre-recorded video played for a packed courtroom in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
The girl’s brother told the court their mother has been "utterly destroyed by grief" and he is plagued by regret and shame that his last text exchange with his sister was “dismissive.”
"It would not have taken me more than a second to be a supportive and nurturing brother to her," he said, "and there’s no way I can ever take it back or make it up to her."
Ibrahim Ali, 34, was sentenced Friday after a jury found him guilty in December of first-degree murder in the girl’s death.
The girl’s partially naked body was found in the bush beside a trail in Central Park on July 18, 2017.
Her identity is protected by a publication ban, so her family members cannot be named.
Wearing an orange sweat suit and black gloves, Ali appeared at his sentencing remotely from a room at his pretrial detention centre.
He began the hearing listening through a Kurdish-Arabic interpreter via a phone inside the room while nearly 150 people in the public gallery heard victim impact statements from seven of the slain teen's family, friends and school mates.
During the statement from the girl's father, however, Ali could be seen on the video monitor putting down the phone, pacing around the room and covering his ears with his hands.
During his own statement to the court, Ali repeated what he has said before, that he did not kill the girl.
"This is unfair," he said.
Evidence presented during the eight-month trial showed Ali's DNA matched semen found inside the girl.
The Crown's theory, accepted by the jury, was that Ali had attacked the young teen on a path in Central Park, pulled her into the bushes, and strangled her to death while sexually assaulting her.
After the victim impact statements and remarks from Ali, Justice Lance Bernard delivered his sentence.
"Mr. Ali, you have been found guilty of first-degree murder, and you have heard the profound harm and grief you have caused for raping and murdering 13-year-old (name redacted) in Central Park on July 18, 2017," he said. "For this horrific and most grave crime I hereby sentence you to imprisonment in a penitentiary for life without eligibility for parole for 25 years."
With one day of credit for each day spent in pretrial custody since his arrest in September 2018, Ali won't be eligible for parole until 2043.
He will remain on the national sex offender registry for life and must provide a DNA sample.
He will also be banned from possessing any weapons for 10 years after his release.
Bernard saved his last words for the girl's family.
"I am so very sorry for your unfathomable loss," he said.
Speaking to media outside the courthouse after the sentencing, the girl's brother said he feels "relief" the trial is over.
He said the family was "very disappointed" that Ali and his lawyers weren't in court in person.
"We made the trip from China to come and face them and say these things that we wanted to say to them in person, but they didn't even have the courage, the courtesy or the respect to show in person," he said.
When Ali's case comes up for parole in 2043, the brother said he hopes the board denies the application.
"This is not a man who deserves to walk free again," he said. "I hope that he will stay incarcerated for the rest of his days."
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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