Family says their security officer father died from wounds suffered in attack
Ottawa Canada Nov 17 2017 The family of a 65-year-old security guard who died two months after he was hit with heavy rocks in a downtown parking garage wants to see homicide charges brought in the case.
Samy Khoury, of Nepean, died at The Ottawa Hospital on Sept. 13 after suffering organ failure, possibly from the rapid onset of sepsis.
He was still recovering from the grievous wounds he had suffered during the summer when he died suddenly, his daughter said.
“We are still waiting on a report from the coroner,” Monika Khoury told the newspaper. “We think that will tell us whether this was a homicide or not.
“But we think this happened because of his brain injury. Because if he wasn’t attacked, he wouldn’t have been in the hospital, and he wouldn’t have needed surgery: It would never have escalated to this point. From our perspective, this was murder.”
Khoury, a security guard with G4S Canada, was attacked early on the morning of July 15 after asking a sleeping man to move from the parking garage stairwell at 265 Laurier Ave. W. Khoury didn’t like patrolling dangerous areas like the garage alone, his daughter said, and had warned his supervisors that it should be done in pairs.
When the man refused to leave the stairwell and swore at him, Khoury retreated to his car and called for backup. While he was still in the car, his daughter said, the man approached the car and heaved a brick-sized rock at his car window. Khoury was showered with glass and stepped out of the car only to be hit in the head with a second rock.
He lost consciousness, she said, and fell to the ground. The back-up security guard arrived and suffered minor injuries from another attack.
Khoury underwent surgery to repair facial fractures and received more than 30 stitches to his battered face.
He was in hospital for a month recovering from a skull fracture and other wounds: He lost hearing in one ear, suffered from double vision and had difficulty walking, his daughter said.
Khoury was still undergoing rehabilitation when he suffered a rapid decline in September.
Monika Khoury said her father always worked two jobs, often 12 hours a day, after immigrating from Egypt more than 20 years ago.
“He came here to give us a better life. He was an amazing man,” she said. “He cared like no other. He had the biggest, most forgiving heart I have ever seen … He worked all his life and now he’s gone.”
Khoury leaves three children and four grandchildren.
Earlier this week, Ottawa police charged Mabira Karerama, 27, with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of assault with a weapon, mischief and carrying a concealed weapon.
Ottawa Citizen
