Two more charged in fatal highrise fall

Ottawa police have arrested two new suspects in the highrise homicide of Ahmad Afrah, who fell to his death from a MacLaren Street apartment on May 15.

Police have been investigating his fall as suspicious. It was deemed to be Ottawa’s third homicide of the year in the days after the incident.

A 16-year-old girl and another man have already been charged in relation to the incident. Liban Gure, 29, and the girl, who cannot be named because of her age, were arrested in May and charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault.

On Wednesday, police added Daniel Matthnai Jean-Charles of Ottawa, 21, and a 16-year-old male, who cannot be named because of his age, to the list of suspects who have been arrested.

The pair were arrested in Toronto earlier this week and are now in Ottawa police custody. They are both charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Jean-Charles appeared in an Ottawa court Wednesday. The teenager will be in court at a later time.

Police allege the girl, boy, JeanCharles and Gure were involved in a physical fight with Afrah, 19, the night of his death. The fight spilled out onto the balcony of apartment 1611 at 415 MacLaren St. In trying to escape his alleged attackers, Afrah scaled the balcony before falling 16 storeys to his death.

Police ask anyone with information regarding this investigation to call Ottawa police at 613-236-1222, ext. 5493.