Calgary Herald

Calgary man jailed for life over deadly robbery

- KEVIN MARTIN KMartin@postmedia.com twitter.com/KMartinCou­rts

It was supposed to be a robbery and assault, but turned into murder.

Those were the facts admitted Wednesday by Said Raed Abdulbaki, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.

Reading from a statement of agreed facts, Crown prosecutor Rajbir Dhillon told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Craig Jones that Abdulbaki was present when David Quach, 27, was slain.

But Dhillon said Abdulbaki didn’t know what his accomplice was going to do as they approached Quach’s vehicle the evening of Aug. 22, 2015.

“Mr. Quach died from injuries he sustained after being shot seven times,” Dhillon told Jones.

The shooting occurred shortly before 9 p.m. while Quach was in a vehicle in a driveway on California Boulevard N.E., the prosecutor said.

“Mr. Abdulbaki formed a common intention with … the shooter to assault and rob Mr. Quach,” Dhillon said. “… Mr. Abdulbaki did not plan, deliberate upon, or intend to murder Mr. Quach. However, Mr. Abdulbaki knew that the shooter was bringing a loaded handgun with him,” said Dhillon, who only identified the gunman by initials.

Dhillon said Abdulbaki “stood nearby as the shooter opened the door of Mr. Quach’s vehicle and opened fire on Mr. Quach.

“The shooter and Mr. Abdulbaki then made off with Mr. Quach’s cellular telephone, his wallet and some cocaine.”

Despite being shot, Quach was able to briefly get out of his vehicle before getting back in the driver’s seat, Dhillon said.

“His vehicle reversed into the road, making contact with another vehicle,” he told Jones. “Mr. Quach (again) exited his vehicle and collapsed from his injuries.”

“Mr. Quach was covered in blood and was initially conscious,” Dhillon said. “However, he died during transport to the hospital by ambulance.”

Jones accepted a joint submission by the Crown and defence to sentence Abdulbaki to an automatic life sentence without parole for a minimum 10 years.

 ??  ?? Raed Abdulbaki
Raed Abdulbaki

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