March death now classed a homicide
Former gang member with long rap sheet faces charge of first-degree murder
A man with a history of allegations of violence against women has been arrested in the death of a woman in March.
Mohamed Barkhadle, 31, was arrested by police on Wednesday. He is expected to appear today in court, where he will be formally charged with first-degree murder.
Homicide detectives revealed Wednesday that what was previously being looked at as the suspicious death of 35-year-old Rania Moussa is now believed to be a homicide. Moussa was found dead inside her apartment on Burnside Road in March.
Barkhadle, also known as “Akon,” is a former Crips gang member and known to police. He has served time for pimping a teenage girl and is facing charges of attempted murder for allegedly choking and assaulting another woman in May.
The Citizen has learned that police were waiting on forensic evidence before being able to classify Moussa’s death as a homicide.
A friend of Moussa’s said she was a “a good person, a good mother.” Moussa loved her children, said the woman, who spoke on condition that her name not be published.
Moussa’s Facebook pages (she had several) include pictures of a son and daughter. In February she posted a picture of the little boy, who was about two at the time. There was also a picture of a girl posted with the comment: “My Tatiana when she was just a yr old. Now she’s 10!”
She posted a picture in January of the two children with the comment “my dear kiddos.”
Several friends posted comments on Moussa’s pages in March, saying, “I am in total shock … you will be missed” and “RIP my friend.”
According to her Facebook pages, Moussa graduated from Laurentian High School and studied at the Ottawa Academy of Hairstyling and Esthetics.
After Moussa’s death, Barkhadle was arrested by police for allegedly choking and sexually assaulting another woman in a violent attack on May 15.
For that attack, Barkhadle was charged with attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, forcible confinement, overcoming resistance by choking, uttering threats, breach of probation and failure to report as required.
At the time of his arrest in that case, sexual assault investigators voiced concerns there might be other victims.
In 2012, police issued an arrest warrant for Barkhadle and circulated his picture to the public as they hunted for a suspect who choked a woman during a robbery.
At the time, police said Barkhadle faced charges of choking, robbery and uttering threats in an Oct. 30 attack against a woman who was walking the area of Bank Street and Kilborn Avenue when she was grabbed from behind and pushed to the ground.
Police alleged Barkhadle demanded her money then tried to lure her to a secluded area. The woman refused and police believe Barkhadle ran away.
He was convicted of assault in 2009 and possession of a dangerous weapon in 2010.
In 2010, Barkhadle was arrested and charged with pimping a 17-year-old girl. He was charged with procuring, living off the avails of prostitution, living off the avails of a juvenile prostitute using violence, and breach of probation.
In another set of charges in 2011, Barkhadle was sentenced to seven months in jail for what a judge described as “morally reprehensible” crimes.
Barkhadle, who was 25 at the time, was found guilty of possession of a dangerous weapon, criminal harassment and breach of probation, but acquitted of intimidation and extortion.
Though the Crown alleged he was a drug dealer who sold crack cocaine and took over another man’s apartment to deal drugs, Barkhadle was never charged with any drug offences for lack of evidence.