Toronto rapper freed after 1st-degree murder charge stayed

A Toronto rapper charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 20-year-old man was freed on Monday after the Crown stayed the charge.

Hassan Ali, known by his rap moniker Top 5, had been charged in thedeath of Hashim Omar Hashi, an accounting student.

Hashi was shot multiple times in his vehicle while trying to enter a parking garage near Jane Street and Falstaff Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2021, according to Toronto police. Hedied at the scene. Family members and friends have described him as "humble, kind and hardworking."

About two weeks after the shooting, Ali was arrested in Windsor, Ont., and charged.Heserved about three years in custody and was about to undergo trial, when the stay was announced on Monday in Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

The Crown suspended its case against Ali after the judge would not allow his videos or social media posts to be used as evidence in the trial. According to the Crown's theory, Ali was part of a gang that rivalled another operating in the area where Hashi was shot. The Crown claimedthat gang rivalry was the reason for the killing.

Outside a downtown Toronto courthouse on Monday, Ali praised the work of his defence lawyer Gary Grill, saying he felt like "a baseball player,superstar" to be out of jail.

"An innocent man just came home," Ali said, denying any involvement in the killing.

"R.I.P. I'm an innocent man. Hope they find whoever did that," he said.

When asked if hewas a gang member, he said: "No, I'm a businessman."

"I'm going tobring every community together. Stop the violence with positivity."

Evidence 'entirely circumstantial,' lawyer says

Grill told reporters that staying the charge of first-degree murder was the right decision.

"I think the evidence against Hassan was entirely circumstantial," Grill. "The case against him was not strong at all. It was very, very weakin my opinion. And I think this is the correct decision to release Mr. Ali right now."

The decision to stay the charge came sooner than expected but was not a surprise, Grill said, even though he had no advance notice.

"We were confident all along that this day would come," Grill said. "We very much hope that this is the end of matters for Mr. Ali. But I'm considering all options and all things that the Crown could do going forward."

Grill said Ali is a drill rap artist and his lyrics, videos and persona as Top 5 were used against him.

"The problem about prosecuting artists like Mr. Ali based on their music is it fails to understand what the medium is, whatit's about, and how drillers approach their audiences. It's important for all drillersto portray themselves as the biggest, baddest gangsters on the planet. That's what sells. That's what all drillers are doing," Grill said.

Grill said the Crown alleged Aliwas the mastermind of the killing based on his lyrics, adding: "That was the problem with their case all along."

CBC Toronto has reached out to Ontario's Attorney General's office, but has not yet heard back.

Ali was originally charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

In March 2021, Ali was released from custodyand was living under house arrest with an electronicankle monitor that trackedhis whereabouts. In May, thechargeagainst himwasupgraded to first-degree murder.

After the charge was upgraded, investigatorsalleged hecut off thatankle bracelet and ditched it in the city's west end.

He disappeared until he was arrested in Los Angeles in October 2021, wanted for the first-degree murder charge. He was held in custody since that arrest and released on Monday.

Victim had 'promising future,' police said

According to a GoFundMe page, Hashi was a second-year student at Humber Collegeand was workingonhis accounting degree at the time of his death.

At a news conference in February 2021 after his death, police said Hashiwas not involved in gang activity and did not have any gang affiliations.

"He was a student studying accounting and worked part-time at the airport. He had a promising future and he was a very well respected young man," Det.-Sgt.Ted Lioumanistold reporters.

Jabari Evans, an assistant professor of race and media at the University of South Carolina, testified during the case. He said in an interview on Monday that lyrics being used in court against drill rappers is becoming far too common.

Being able to project a persona of toughness is practically one of the rules of the genre, he said. Drill rap is a form of gangster music founded in the 2010s on the south side of Chicago, he said.

"We can't take that creativity as being factual all the time. And we certainly can't convict on the basis of creative output," Evans said.

Doing so is not only unfair, it can also take someone's livelihood and freedom away, he added. It also shows a lack of understanding of the art form, he added.