A safe injection site worker who helped a drug dealer flee after a deadly gunfight became tense and short-tempered on the stand Wednesday while being cross-examined at the murder trial of Damian Hudson.
Hudson is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Caroline Huebner-Makurat, an innocent bystander who police say was struck by a stray bullet after two drug dealers robbed Hudson outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre on July 7, 2023.
Hudson has pleaded not guilty, though it is an admitted fact that he fired the fatal shot.
On Monday, Khalila Mohammed testified that her romantic relationship with drug dealer Ahmed Ibrahim began after the shooting.
She said they were acquaintances who often talked outside the site about “random stuff like clothes, cars and shoes,” and that she would educate him about the drug supply.
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During cross-examination, defence lawyer Charn Gill read from thousands of text messages between Mohammed and Ibrahim and suggested their romantic relationship had already begun before the shooting.
Two days after the killing, Mohammed texted Ibrahim advising him to “get out of the city for awhile,” calling him “babe” and writing, “I’m really missing you… you’re special and I don’t say that typa s— to just anyone.
“I wanna be there for you and be by your side.” Gill suggested the romance predated the shooting, which Mohammed denied.
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In another message, Mohammed said she started getting feelings for Ibrahim on Wednesday and that “what happened Friday solidified things.” Gill pointed out that Friday was the day Huebner-Makurat was shot.
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“I liked you from the moment I first met you,” Mohammed wrote in one text. “I just don’t show emotions that easily. Why do you think I’d come outside to smoke so often and for so long. lol, normally I go to the back parking lot to smoke.”
“You would agree you had feelings for him far beyond an acquaintance,” Gill said.
“I was lying to him,” Mohammed responded.
When asked why she lied, she replied, “I don’t know. Do you have actual questions for me or you just going to continue reading text messages?”
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Gill noted that Mohammed initially lied to police about helping Ibrahim flee after the shooting and about information involving guns.
“I acknowledged what I did was wrong,” she said. On Monday she testified that she pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to manslaughter last December and is serving a 17-and-a-half month conditional sentence.
Gill then asked about a conversation inside the health centre shortly after the shooting between Mohammed, Ibrahim and a drug user named Layla.
Mohammed agreed she knew there had been a shooting and understood “this was a dispute over a bag,” though she denied remembering testimony from the preliminary hearing that Ibrahim told Layla to take half the cash from the bag.
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Gill suggested Mohammed decided to help Ibrahim despite knowing guns were involved. Mohammed agreed she helped him get an Uber, but denied disposing of his clothing.
“You did all this for someone you say at that point wasn’t even your friend?” Gill asked.
“Yes,” Mohammed said.
The judge cautioned the jury that Mohammed’s evidence about what Ibrahim told her regarding the guns must not be taken as proof that what he said was true.
“Later, I will tell you how to use this evidence,” Superior Court Justice Michael Brown said.
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Gill later questioned Mohammed about her departure from the job. Mohammed said she quit; Gill suggested she was fired and asked if she had a drinking problem at the time. Mohammed agreed she did, but said that was not the reason she was under investigation.
“I was suspended with pay and then I quit,” she said.
Court finished with more texts from roughly 10 days after the shooting, when Ibrahim asked Mohammed if he could buy Percocet.
She replied she would “spot him,” adding she doesn’t “spot anyone else.”
Gill suggested she sells Percocet, which Mohammed denied. She eventually agreed to sell Ibrahim 50 pills for $200 and told him to send someone named “Ginger” to pick them up at the side door used by clients because she had a meeting and could not leave.
“You’re telling him to come and meet you at the side. He’s going to do a drug transaction with you in the safe injection site,” Gill said.
The cross-examination continues Thursday.
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