Former safe injection site worker who helped suspect flee deadly shooting sentenced

A former harm reduction worker at a Toronto safe-injection site has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter, following the 2023 daytime shooting death of a bystander.

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A former harm reduction worker at a Toronto safe-injection site has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter, following the 2023 daytime shooting death of an innocent bystander outside the facility.

Khalila Mohammed, now 25, admitted in court Friday to helping Ahmed Ibrahim evade arrest after a fatal gunfight erupted near the South Riverdale Community Health Centre on July 7, 2023. The shooting claimed the life of 44-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat, a mother of two who was struck by a stray bullet while walking to lunch.

At the time, Mohammed was employed at the centre’s supervised consumption site in Leslieville. Ibrahim, then 20, was across the street during what police described as an attempted robbery involving local drug dealers. That incident escalated into a gunfight on Queen Street East in broad daylight.

Karolina Huebner-Makurat, 44, was walking to lunch with a friend when shots rang out on busy Queen Street East. One of the bullets struck her in the back, passing through her liver, kidney, and aorta, killing her.

Mohammed, working at the clinic across the street, sprang into action, not to aid the woman who had just been shot, but to help Ibrahim. She helped him change clothes, flee the scene, and secure an Airbnb unit where they spent an evening together.

Police later recovered text messages between Mohammed and Ibrahim that suggested the two developed a romantic relationship in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

Mohammed initially lied to police but has since admitted she assisted Ibrahim in evading arrest. She also confirmed she developed a romantic relationship with him following the incident.

Now 25, Mohammed pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served, plus 529 days to be served in the community.

Ontario Court Justice Russell S. Silverstein ordered the first 300 days of the non-custodial sentence to be served under house arrest, with exceptions for work, counselling, educational programming, and attending GoodLife Fitness.

The remaining 229 days will be served under a nightly curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

“I regret every single awful decision that I made. I wish that I could take it all back,” Mohammed told the courtroom on Friday.

“There is not a day that goes by where I don’t think about how Karolina’s family has been forever changed.”

Ibrahim is not alleged to have been armed or to have fired a weapon, but he is charged with manslaughter and robbery.

The man who allegedly fired the fatal shot is expected to stand trial for second-degree murder later this year. A third man charged in the case remains at large.

The public outcry over Huebner-Makurat’s death—in a neighbourhood that had previously raised concerns about drug use and violence near the health facility—contributed to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s move to ban so-called safe-injection sites near schools and daycares.

The South Riverdale Community Health Centre’s safe-injection site has since been permanently closed.