EDMONTON – The family of a young Edmonton man who died after being severely beaten last week are frustrated no charges have been laid.

Yusuf Abdirahim, a 20-year-old Somali-Canadian, was found by police unconscious on the boulevard at 149th Avenue and 70th Street, near Londonderry Mall, around 3 a.m. last Thursday.

He was taken to hospital, where he died Saturday morning. Abdirahim’s death was the latest in a series of homicides involving young Somali-Canadian men in the city over the past several years.

In broken English and with the help of an interpreter, Farida Adam said she was frustrated by a lack of information offered by detectives investigating her son’s murder. She pointed to a nearby laptop, saying she has been watching and reading media reports since the attack happened, hungry for any new detail.

Adam immigrated to Canada from Somalia in 1999. She lived in Edmonton before eventually moving to Etobicoke, a suburb of Toronto. She got on a plane to Edmonton as soon as she learned her son was attacked. Since last week, she has been staying with a cousin at a northeast townhouse, and said she’ll stay until she has some answers.

Edmonton police have spoken to witnesses, including a man involved in the incident. Detectives are not looking for any other suspects, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

Adam said she was told that police have not taken anyone into custody.

“At night time I can’t sleep,” she said, her voice tired. “I’m too stressed. We want justice.”

Her son travelled four days by train to visit her in Etobicoke three weeks ago, Adam said. During the visit, he told her he was working to become a certified mechanic and promised he would move back to Toronto within months.

“He said, ‘We’ll have everything, mom. Don’t worry,’” Adam said.

Her son returned to Edmonton on May 6. His funeral was held Wednesday afternoon.

Abdirahim’s sister, 18-year-old Hamida Abdirahim, came back to Edmonton a day after her brother did, to look for employment and work toward finishing her education.

She didn’t have the opportunity to see him before he was killed.

“He was a really good brother,” she said. “He was protective and he was always there for me.”

She said her family want to see someone held responsible for the death.

“We just want to know why it happened,” she said.

For Adam, the idea that she fled with her children from Somali in search of a safer life only to have her son beaten to death, is hard to comprehend.

“What do I want? Just answers,” Adam said. “My son is lost already. He’s not coming back.”

His death marked the city’s 23rd homicide this year.

twitter.com/mariam_di

Comments

comments