Camille Bains, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, September 10, 2018 10:58AM EDT
Last Updated Monday, September 10, 2018 2:24PM EDT

SURREY, B.C. -- A man has been charged with murdering a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Metro Vancouver park over a year ago in a crime that caused people in the community to feel unsafe, police said Monday.

Marrisa Shen was last seen in the evening of July 18, 2017. When she didn't return home, her mother called police, and officers found her body in a wooded area of Central Park in Burnaby early the next morning.

On Monday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced Ibrahim Ali, 28, had been charged with first-degree murder, two weeks after police became aware of him.


Supt. Donna Richardson, the officer in charge of the team, said Ali is a Syrian national who moved to Burnaby as a refugee 17 months ago. She said the permanent resident of Canada is employed and has family in Canada but she couldn't provide any other details pending the judicial process for the man who is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Friday.