Family and friends express shock at verdicts, mourn best friends killed outside Toronto nightclub

Hearing verdicts of manslaughter and second-degree murder for the killer who shot two unarmed friends dead outside a Toronto nightclub, and a not guilty verdict for the man who the court heard was a driver of a car that fled the scene, was almost as traumatic as losing their loved ones, family and friends of the victims told the court Monday.

In tearful testimony, witnesses described the holes left in their lives by the loss of 25-year-old Tyler McLean, a Toronto club promoter about to embark on an international business venture, and 26-year-old Zemarai Khan Mohammed, an Afghan interpreter who had dreams of joining the Canadian Forces — and also their fear from growing gun violence in Toronto.

“How can I quantify the loss, the nightmare that haunts me all day? What can I say about the man who purposefully shot my son?” said McLean’s mother, Paris Vassel.

“Have you ever been to the morgue to find your son lying on the table? Until you have, you have no idea what we are experiencing. Take a minute to imagine your own child dead, lying there. Is it too painful to consider? Yes. But it is my reality. Day in and day out. I am sentenced to this reality,” she said.

Tanade Mohamed was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Zemarai Khan Mohammed, and manslaughter in the death of Tyler McLean. He sat still, listening from his Zoom connection at Toronto East Detention Centre, wearing an orange and blue jumpsuit. Abdisiraq Ali, his co-accused, was not part of the proceedings after being found not guilty by Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden.