A young man was convicted of second-degree murder Thursday in the 2013 beating death of another young man near a SkyTrain station.
One week before Christmas that year, Karim Meskine, 18, had been walking to soccer practice after getting off at 22nd Avenue SkyTrain station in New Westminster.
Someone attacked him with a baseball bat, beating him so viciously that he was put in a coma. Three days later, after his 19th birthday, the Surrey boy died at Royal Columbian Hospital.
“Karim was the innocent victim of an unprovoked attack and was found unconscious by a passerby who called 911 for help," Sgt. Bari Emam of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said at the time. "This is one of the saddest cases I have been a part of all these years at IHIT."
A 16-year-old boy was eventually arrested and initially charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. Those were later raised to second-degree murder.
The teen, who cannot be named, was found guilty at BC Supreme Court in New Westminster.
“This was an extremely tragic case that shocked the community on a number of levels,” says Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound with IHIT after the conviction.
“Our hope is that this conviction will help the friends and family of Mr. Meskine move forward in their healing process.”