Police sources tell CTV Ottawa the murder of a 16-year-old Ottawa boy who was left for dead on a Chinatown street may have been retaliation for a drug deal gone bad.
Although the teen's family and friends deny Yazdan Ghiasvand Ghiasi was involved with drugs, sources said a dispute over marijuana may have triggered the brazen daylight attack.
Ghiasi was dumped out of a car on a sidewalk on Booth Street bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound Monday morning. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
Three young Ottawa men, including an aspiring police officer, appeared in court Wednesday, facing charges in connection with the murder.
Abdulhamid Wehbe, 20, is charged with second-degree murder. He is in his final year of police foundations studies at Algonquin College.
Zakaria Dourhnou, 18, and Khaled Wehbe, 19, are both charged with accessory after the fact. All three were remanded in custody until next week.
One of Ghiasi's best friends told CTV Ottawa he last saw his friend two days before the shooting. He says Ghiasi skipped school on Monday to meet up with some people.
"I have no idea what happened. For them to shoot him, kill him and just leave him for dead in broad daylight -- it's unbelievable," said Hojhan Moshafi.
Despite speculation that drugs may have been involved, Moshafi said he didn't think his friend was the type of person who'd get into drugs.
"He was never into drugs, maybe it was something new that popped up, maybe it was random. Maybe - whatever it might have been. If it was drugs, it was drugs. I don't know why. I don't want to believe it was drugs. He just never seemed like that type of guy," he said.
However, Ghiasi's family says their son was never in trouble. Instead, his life was full of accomplishments. He had a black belt in Tae Kwando. He was also a wrestling coach and an avid cross-country runner.
"We don't know what happened, we don't know. We just know someone shot him," family friend Ata Fathi told CTV Ottawa on Tuesday.
A funeral for Ghiasi will be held at the Ottawa mosque on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. A memorial service will also be held at Notre Dame Catholic High School next week.
The killing marks the city's 10th homicide of the year. Anyone with information about the murder is asked to contact Ottawa police at 613-236-1222, ext. 5493 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477 (TIPS).
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Joanne Schnurr and Kate Eggins