{"id":17710,"date":"2025-02-20T15:54:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T15:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/once-canadas-most-wanted-fugitive-ontario-man-found-guilty-of-manslaughter\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T15:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T15:54:18","slug":"once-canadas-most-wanted-fugitive-ontario-man-found-guilty-of-manslaughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/once-canadas-most-wanted-fugitive-ontario-man-found-guilty-of-manslaughter\/","title":{"rendered":"Once Canada\u2019s most wanted fugitive, Ontario man found guilty of manslaughter"},"content":{"rendered":"


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An Ontario man who was once Canada\u2019s most wanted fugitive has been found guilty of manslaughter<\/a> in the 2021 shooting death of a man in Toronto.<\/p>\n

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Justice Michael Brown delivered his verdict to Abilaziz Mohamed in a downtown Toronto courtroom Thursday morning, more than four years after he shot and killed Craig MacDonald outside a Boston Pizza in Scarborough.<\/p>\n

At the outset of the judge-alone trial, Mohamed pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, but guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. However, the Crown rejected that plea and proceeded with the trial for second-degree murder. The Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt Mohamed had the intent to kill MacDonald.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to kill Mr. MacDonald when he shot, nor am I convinced he shot him and knew it would cause bodily harm. He didn\u2019t have one of the required intents for murder,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI find that the defendant acted instinctively or impulsively in the context of provoking words or actions, disinhibited by alcohol (and) he shot Mr. MacDonald without forming the intent for murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Oct. 13, 2021, MacDonald and Mohamed were both at the Boston Pizza and became involved in an altercation on the patio and in the parking lot, according to an agreed statement of facts.<\/p>\n

During the course of the fight, Mohamed shot MacDonald \u2013 a 43-year-old father<\/a> \u2013 in the chest with a .32-calibre semi-automatic handgun.<\/p>\n

MacDonald was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital, where he later died. An autopsy determined that he was killed by a penetrating gunshot wound to the torso.<\/p>\n

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Mohamed never surrendered to police. In April 2022, he was in an Ajax hospital for nine days for diabetes treatment when he was arrested<\/p>\n

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As Global News reported exclusively at the time<\/a>, Mohamed was recognized in hospital after his picture was widely circulated by the media that day after he was named Canada\u2019s most wanted fugitive by the BOLO program.<\/p>\n

In November 2024, Mohamed said at the trial<\/a> he never intended to kill MacDonald. He said after a day and night of heavy drinking, he was attacked from behind as he was leaving the pizza restaurant, where he had gone for a few drinks with his friend.<\/p>\n

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