Toronto rapper 'Top5' set free after judge dismisses evidence in 2021 slaying
CTV
A Toronto rapper who was charged in a fatal 2021 shooting has been released after a judge dismissed social media evidence in the case.
A Toronto rapper who was charged in a fatal 2021 shooting has been released after a judge dismissed social media evidence in the case.
Hassan Ali, who also goes by the stage name "Top5," was arrested in Los Angeles three years ago in connection with the killing of Hashim Omar Hashi.
A superior court judge said Monday that Ali was free to go after ruling that some of the submissions were inadmissible as evidence.
"I can go?" he asked the judge smiling after he was told that the Crown would be staying the charges.
Hashi was gunned down while driving his car into the underground garage of an apartment building at 40 Falstaff Avenue, in the area of Jane Street and Highway 401, on Jan. 31, 2021. Police said he had no known criminal ties.
A suspect vehicle spotted fleeing the scene was later found engulfed in flames at Earl Bales Park near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue.
Ali was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and failing to comply with probation after he was arrested in Windsor, Ont. two weeks after the killing. In May of that year, police upgraded charges against him to first-degree murder, but they couldn't find him. LAPD eventually arrested him months later on Oct. 7. Police alleged he had cut off his GPS tracking bracelet and fled the country.
