N.S. news: Witnesses testify at murder trial [Video]

HALIFAX –

The murder trial for a Halifax-area youth accused of participating in the killing of a 16-year-old student last year heard Tuesday from an eyewitness to the fatal stabbing.

The 17-year-old accused pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder following the death on April 22 of Ahmad Maher Al Marrach, who was pronounced dead in hospital after he was found badly injured near the Halifax Shopping Centre.

Melanie Adolph told the judge-only trial she had taken her two children to the mall and was putting them in her vehicle when she heard a commotion nearby. The 38-year-old woman said that as she walked toward a group of about a dozen rowdy teens in the mall’s parkade, she saw a smaller group of four teens, two of whom were scuffling on the concrete floor.

Adolph told youth court that three of the teens were beating, kicking and stomping on Al Marrach when she …