Two men who committed an “appalling act of gun violence” that left a young man dead outside the River Cree Casino have been handed life sentences with no chance of applying for parole for 17 years.

Adam Michael Brown, 23, and Alexander Edward Colin Reid, 22, were earlier convicted of second-degree murder for the death of Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, who was shot several times after a short fist fight in August 2008.

During the sentencing hearing Monday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Paul Belzil said the shooting was “execution-style” and “callous in the extreme.”

He said Ibrahim was in a vulnerable position as he stood outside the casino with his friends, unaware he would be the victim of an attack.

Brown and Reid used a level of violence that was disproportionate to the initial dispute, Belzil said, and turned “a fist fight into a one-sided gunfight.”

During the trial, court heard Reid and Brown got into a fight with Ibrahim and his friends at the casino in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, 2008.

Both groups were asked to leave. Ibrahim was shot as he stood outside the casino with his friends. The burst of gunfire also wounded a young woman in the group who later recovered.

Video cameras were set up around the casino, but there was no footage of the shooting.

Defence lawyers for Reid and Brown argued there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the identities of the shooters.

However, two sworn statements from witnesses presented during the trial implicated Reid and Brown in the shooting. Forensic evidence showed Ibrahim had been hit with bullets from two guns.

When asked on Monday if he wanted to address court, Brown said, “I still maintain my innocence.”

He said he had watched media reports about the number of young Somali-Canadian men who had been killed in Alberta, with few cases proceeding to trial.

Brown called his court proceedings “political.”

Ibrahim, 24, was a member of Edmonton’s Somali community.

Reid declined to address the court.

Family members of Ibrahim embraced after the sentencing decision and said they were pleased with the decision.

“We’re very happy today. We’ve waited for this for the past two-and-a-half years,” said Abdul Hussein.

Ibrahim’s mother, Fouzia Mohamed, said the decision won’t bring her son back, but said she hopes it might spare other mothers from experiencing what she has gone through.

Crown lawyers had argued that Brown and Reid should not be eligible for parole for 15 to 20 years.

Defence lawyers for the men pointed to their lack of criminal records and their youth, and argued they should be eligible for parole after 12 years.

A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence, with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

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The Edmonton Journal

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