In a decision we can’t provide details of due to a publication ban, Supreme Court Justice Eric Downs on Wednesday denied the 27-year-old’s request. He must remain behind bars for the remainder of the trial.
It is rare for the courts to grant such a request for release in first-degree murder cases.
Two men are accused of gun violence in this case, sparking outrage in Quebec in February 2021.
Salim Touaibi, 26, and Aymane Bouadi, 27, were arrested separately by the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) last June, 16 months after the incident. Each of these two men faces one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder.
Remember that on February 7, 2021, Meriem Boundaoui, 15, was killed in a shooting on rue Valdombre, not far from rue Jean-Talon, in the Saint-Léonard neighborhood of east Montreal.
The teenager, who was a passenger in a car, was talking to others on the sidewalk around 6pm when occupants of another vehicle opened fire on the group of teenagers.
The young woman succumbed to her injuries shortly afterwards in hospital. Another 21-year-old person who was in the car with her was also injured.
According to the police, Salim Touaibi and Aymane Bouadi were both in the attackers’ car that evening. One of them is said to have been driving the car while the other opened fire on the youths at the curb.
If Aymane Bouadi doesn’t have a criminal record, it’s different for Salim Touaibi, who has to appear in court again next week.
Known in police circles for offenses committed in 2017, 2019 and 2022 involving illegal possession of a firearm and narcotics, Touaibi was awaiting conviction in one of those cases when he was arrested. He was previously detained in a provincial prison in connection with another case.
With information from Geneviève Garon