One guilty, one acquitted in drive-by murder of Quebec teenager Meriem Boundaoui

MONTREAL — A man who admitted to shooting the gun that killed a 15-year-old girl in Montreal in 2021 was found guilty by a jury on Thursday of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder, while his co-accused was acquitted of all charges.

With his guilty verdict, Salim Touaibi, 29, is automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. Aymane Bouadi, 30, walked out of the Montreal courthouse and reunited with his family, his lawyer told reporters.

The Superior Court trial heard that Meriem Boundaoui, 15, was sitting in the passenger seat of a Volkswagen Jetta in Montreal’s St-Léonard borough on Feb. 7, 2021, when a white Mercedes with two men inside pulled up and one of them opened fire, hitting her fatally in the head.

The death of high school student shook Quebec’s Algerian community and prompted wider calls for stronger measures to stop gun violence. Montreal’s mayor and police chief later announced a new police unit targeting gun traffickers in the wake of her death and that of two other teens the same year.

One of Touaibi’s lawyers, Marc Labelle, told reporters at the courthouse that at first glance, the two verdicts seem incompatible: premeditated murder for one man who was in the Mercedes and an acquittal for the second man in the car.

“Admitting to being the shooter is the act, now in criminal law you also have to find that there was a sufficient intention,” Labelle said. “And that’s where the problem is between the two verdicts.”

Labelle said it will be up to his client to decide whether he wants to appeal the verdict.

The jury deliberated for eight days before returning the verdicts on Thursday morning. Both men were charged with first-degree murder in her death, as well as the attempted murder of several people standing near the Jetta.

Over the course of a trial spanning more than two months, jurors heard that Boundaoui was a bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught in the crossfire of a conflict between two family businesses that did not concern her.

Stemming from a dispute over parking spots, the conflict involved one family that owned a barbershop on Jean-Talon Street and another that owned a grocery store across from it. In the months preceding the shooting, the grocery store owners were upset that barbershop clients were using the parking lot belonging to the market.

Touaibi testified that he was the shooter, but he said he didn’t realize Boundaoui or anyone else was in the Jetta when he shot at it. He acknowledged being aware of the conflict between family businesses, but said his involvement was limited to trying to act as a peacemaker.

His lawyer suggested to the jury that Touaibi had fired toward the Jetta because he was afraid of being shot and wanted to scare others nearby.

Bouadi’s lawyer argued during closing arguments that his client was just a “passive” passenger in the Mercedes who had gone to get food with his friend and should be acquitted. He said his client was aware of the conflict between groups but not involved.

“My client is relieved, but the faith he had in our justice system was quite impressive. I never saw him lose heart in recent months, and finally, his faith was rewarded this morning,” Martin Latour, one of Bouadi’s lawyers, told reporters at the courthouse.

“I don’t think there are words that can describe how he feels, he’s already on his way to see his family, he’s been separated from them for years.”

The two men were arrested days apart by Montreal police in June 2022. Their trial began in mid-January.

Latour said he doesn’t know if the Crown intends to appeal the acquittal, adding that he senses his client is happy to “turn the page.”

The Crown prosecutors in the case declined to comment on Thursday.

The case returns to court for sentencing on April 2. While Touaibi’s verdict means he faces the strongest penalty — life with 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole — the judge needs to determine his sentence on the four counts of attempted murder.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2026.

— With files from Morgan Lowrie

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press