Charge laid in fatal shooting of young woman in Surrey

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced Thursday that Ali Khudhair had been charged in connection with the murder of Keryane Arsenault, 20

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A second-degree murder charge has been approved against a 24-year-old Surrey man in the fatal shooting Tuesday of a young woman.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced Thursday that Ali Khudhair has been charged in connection with the murder of Keryane Arsenault, 20.

Arsenault was found critically injured about 9 p.m. on May 4 at her residence in the 9700-block of 161A Street in Surrey.

She later died of her injuries in hospital.

Khudhair was arrested soon after police arrived at the scene, Sgt. Frank Jang said in a news release.

Arsenault was not known to police, while Khudhair has previous convictions and is before the courts on other charges.

He is due to appear in Surrey provincial court May 11 on the murder charge.

“We understand the public may be feeling anxious, given the recent spate of shootings and homicides in communities across the Lower Mainland,” Jang said. “With respect to this most recent fatal shooting, it does not appear to be gang-motivated.”

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Khudhair was convicted of assault and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose in November 2019 and sentenced to two years of probation.

He is alleged to have breached his probation conditions in January of this year in Delta and was due back in court May 10. And he is also due in a Vancouver courtroom in June 1 for allegedly driving while prohibited last September.

Arsenault’s fatal shooting comes after an increase in gun violence across the Lower Mainland in recent weeks.

On Monday, a 28-year-old man with links to the Lower Mainland gang conflict was seriously injured in a shooting outside Toys ‘R’ Us in the Willowbrook Mall.

On Sunday, a 25-year-old Surrey woman was seriously injured in a shooting in the 3700-block of Dubois Street in Burnaby at about 4 a.m.

Burnaby resident Varinder Singh Deo, 43, has been charged with aggravated assault.

On May 2, correctional officer Bikramdeep Randhawa, 29, was shot to death just before 5 p.m. beside the parking lot to the busy Scottsdale Mall. A candlelight vigil is planned at the mall at 6 p.m. Friday.

The day before, a 19-year-old man arrived in a Surrey hospital about 1:30 p.m. with a gunshot wound. He subsequently died of his injuries.

On April 21, long-time United Nations gangster Todd Gouwenberg, 46, was killed in a targeted shooting as he arrived at the Langley Sportsplex to work out with a trainer.

Two days earlier, 20-year-old Bailey McKinney was shot to death in a Coquitlam park.

And on April 17, high-profile Brothers Keepers gangster Harb Dhaliwal was gunned down outside of Cardero’s restaurant in Vancouver about 8:30 p.m. The alleged hitman, Francois Gauthier, was charged after someone in the Dhaliwal group chased him and stabbed him in the eye.

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