It was one of the most brazen, shocking execution-style murders this city has ever seen.
And now it looks like both suspects are about to walk free.
Security video showing the murder of Abdikarim Abdikarim was watched around the world on
YouTube. A blazing gun cut down the 18-year-old victim and wounded five others a year ago near Allen and Lawrence.
Ahmed Abdikarim-Mohamed, the victim's father, says he can hardly believe it. He responds to word the men charged with killing his son will soon walk away.
"This is really a shame for us and it's something that is an outrage and if the camera and all the evidence is out there ... I don't know what I have to say," the saddened father said through an interpreter.
Ahmed lost his son in this Lawrence Heights apartment complex in March of 2008. Abdikarim was hanging out with a group of friends when a shooter boldly whipped out a gun and opened fire.
The crime was captured on security video and released to help hunt down two suspects. Two men were eventually arrested and charged with first degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
But
Owen Anthony Smith and Wendell Damian Cuff may not have been the trigger men after all. In their pre-trials, the Crown struggled to find witnesses, and for that reason the pair apparently won't face a jury.
CityNews
will be at the courthouse Thursday morning as the suspects are set free.
Take a look at the unedited video of the shooting