Hamilton teenage escort sentenced for manslaughter
A teenage escort who pleaded guilty to manslaughter faces a 21-month sentence and two years of probation with several conditions.
In addition, her father and grandmother must pay the courts $5,000 each because they posted bail for her, but she fled to another city and resumed work as an escort.
Assistant Crown attorney Cheryl Gzik called the Hamilton teen the “ringleader” in an April 2017 scheme she hatched with two other teenage escorts from Toronto to get a ride to Hamilton with a Mississauga man and then steal his Jaguar.
The plan went awry when the man wouldn’t give up the car. After a scuffle, the “ringleader” stabbed Hayder Qasim-Rushdi, 32, in the neck, head and under his arm with a knife.
The girls fled the scene on the Stoney Creek Mountain in a taxi while Hayder managed to drive himself to the Pioneer Gas Bar on Upper Centennial Parkway and get inside before coughing up blood and collapsing at 2:35 a.m.
All three girls were 17 at the time. They cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).
The Hamilton girl, now 18, was charged with manslaughter. The other two were charged with robbery and have been sentenced. While working as an escort, the Hamilton teen advertised her availability on the Backpage service website.
Hayder, who lived with his mother in Mississauga and drover her Jaguar, had been in touch with Backpage previously. He’d offered to drive escorts around, if they paid for gas and were naked.
The Hamilton girl already had Hayder’s cellphone number and the plan was devised. She was also the one who sat naked in Hayder’s passenger seat while he drove to Hamilton.
On Friday, the girl appeared in the prisoner’s box with braided pigtails for her sentencing hearing and wiped away the odd tear. She has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and charges of failing to appear for court and failing to abide by her bail conditions.
Gzik asked for the maximum three-year youth sentence for manslaughter, on top of six months she been in custody since being arrested for breaching bail.
This girl, Gzik said, was the one who called Hayder, knew the area and where to direct him.
“She is the one who pulled the knife... she is the one who stabbed the victim multiple times.”
The girl’s lawyer, Mitchell Rosenblatt, suggested a sentence of 18 to 22 months, with credit given for the past six months in custody. He said she has taken huge steps to better herself and is doing well with her schooling.
Justice Stephen Glithero ordered an assessment to see if she qualifies for an “intensive rehabilitation custody and supervision” (IRCS) program.
Once that is done, she will start her sentence — 27 months in custody. With credit for time served, she has 21 months left. She got 41 days for each breach of conditions, but was credited with time served before she was granted bail.
A victim impact statement was read out from Hayder’s mother, Sanaa Kadhim, who couldn’t attend court because she has cancer. “I never stop crying, day and night,” she wrote, adding her son did everything for her, and she now lives alone and has no life anymore.