10.5-year sentence for man who helped kill 19-year-old during Burnaby home invasion

Homicide victim Ryan Nagy is seen in this photo provided by IHIT.

One of the four young men who killed 19-year-old Burnaby resident Ryan Nagy during a home invasion in June 2023 has been sentenced.

Ali Shamkhi pleaded guilty to manslaughter and weapons offences last October and was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court last month. The sentencing decision was published online Tuesday.

According to the decision, Crown and defence lawyers made a joint submission recommending a 10-and-a-half-year sentence, consisting of eight years for the manslaughter, followed by one year for carrying a concealed weapon and two and a half years for possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm with ready access to ammunition.

The weapons sentences are to be served concurrently with each other, and Shamkhi will receive credit for 930 days—roughly two and a half years—for time already spent in custody prior to sentencing.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Warren B. Milman accepted the joint submission.

‘Incalculable’ loss

Shamkhi and three others broke into Nagy’s home in the 7600 block of 17th Avenue on the morning of June 29, 2023, with the intention of stealing firearms, according to Milman’s decision.

“Both Mr. Nagy and his partner, Ms. Amisi, were in the home at the time,” the decision reads. “They were struck several times by Mr. Shamkhi and the other co-accused. They were bound with duct tape and, in Mr. Nagy’s case, zip ties, as well. Mr. Nagy ultimately succumbed to the five stab wounds that he sustained, the one to his chest proving fatal.”

In the hours after the killing neighbours described Nagy as “a good kid,” and expressed shock that he had been killed in what police described as a targeted incident.

• Related: ‘He’s a good kid’: Neighbours identify victim of fatal Burnaby home invasion

Milman’s decision echoes the sense of tragedy that surrounded Nagy’s death.

“I have heard from many of Mr. Nagy’s family and friends about the magnitude of the loss,” the judge’s decision reads.

“It is apparent to me that Mr. Nagy was and is a remarkable person, one of those rare individuals who bring light into the world and make it a better place for everyone around them. The cutting short of his life at the age of only 19 as well as the devastating and ongoing impact of it on those who knew and loved him is incalculable and weighs heavily in the task I must perform today.”

Offender’s history

In considering whether to accept the joint submission, Milman weighed a variety of aggravating and mitigating factors.

The nature of the crime—including the fact that it was a home invasion and that it involved some premeditation and planning—was an aggravating factor, as was Shamkhi’s criminal record and his behaviour in custody after his arrest.

According to Milman’s decision, Shamkhi was born in Indonesia and immigrated to Canada with his family at a young age. He lived with his mother up until he was taken into custody for killing Nagy, and his father was absent for much of his life.

Shamkhi’s youth criminal record included convictions for assault and possession of stolen property, the decision indicates.

While in custody after his arrest, Shamkhi has engaged in what Milman described as “an alarming pattern of violence.”

“It appears that he has been involved in four incidents in which he had participated in the assault of other inmates,” the decision reads. “He has also been in possession of prohibited items, including a knife.”

Mitigating factors that weighed in Shamkhi’s favour, according to Milman, included his age—he was 19 when the crime occurred and 22 at sentencing—and the fact that he pleaded guilty, avoiding the need to use court resources on a trial.

The other three people involved in the crime—Rhoda Mboka Diabikulu, Ousmane Keita and Rais Muksal Usman—have also pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.

Usman did so last October, while Diabikulu and Keita did so last month.

Sentencing hearings will be held for Usman on April 23, Keita on June 10 and Diabikulu on June 11, the BCPS said.