Ibrahim Ali trial: Neuropathologist says murdered 13-year-old likely survived alleged attack

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find upsetting.

On Tuesday, the jury in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a 13-year-old Burnaby girl heard from a medical expert, who testified the victim may have been alive for up to an hour after the alleged attack. But, he testified, because her injuries were so severe, it’s unlikely the girl’s life could have been saved if she had been found sooner.

Ibrahim Ali has been charged with first-degree murder in the July 19, 2017, death of the girl, whose body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park after being reported missing by her family earlier that day. The girl cannot be named because of a publication ban.

In its opening statement, Crown counsel said it will prove Ali strangled the teen to death while sexually assaulting her in the woods off a walking trail in Central Park. He has pleaded not guilty.

Neuropathologist Dr. Stephen Yip testified he was present when an autopsy was performed on the victim on July 20, 2017, and later examined her brain tissue under a microscope. He said the girl’s brain had obvious markers of an injury, suggesting she had suffered a loss of oxygen or blood flow for anywhere from several to 10 minutes.

Crown asked the witness: “Do you have an opinion about whether the deceased died immediately following the trauma that caused the lack of injury or blood flow?”

Yip replied: “I think most likely she was still physiologically alive, some other basic cellular function was still working, but most likely unconscious and it’s most likely an irreversible process.”

Yip estimated the victim could have been physiologically alive but unconscious for between 30 minutes to an hour before dying. Previous witnesses testified the girl’s body was cold to the touch when she was discovered in the park just after midnight.

In cross examination, Ali’s lawyer asked Yip if he was brought in to look at the victim’s brain because there were no obvious signs of external trauma to the body. He said he was. Yip was asked if he could tell what caused the lack of oxygen or blood flow to the brain, and he said he could not.

The jury has yet to hear from the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy and determined the victim’s cause and manner of death.