Updated ,first published
A 19-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a 12-year-old boy who was shot in the face inside an apartment in Sydney’s north-west last month.
Isaac Bechara was 18 when he allegedly killed the boy in the Moda apartment complex in Norwest on September 21, in what detectives believe was an accidental gunshot delivering fatal wounds to the 12-year-old’s face and neck.
Bechara was charged with murder at Silverwater Prison on Tuesday, having been in custody since being charged with concealing a serious indictable offence in the aftermath of the shooting.
Police believe 10 people were in the apartment at the time of the shooting, including the boy’s mother and several 18-year-old men, some of whom fled after the boy was shot. The murder weapon was removed from the scene before responders arrived, and still hasn’t been found.
Detectives laid the murder charge after working through several accounts of events from the boy’s family and responders to the scene. Two other 18-year-olds present at the apartment were arrested with Bechara following the shooting, where they faced police questioning before being released without charge.
Investigators believe the boy, who cannot be legally identified, may have been one of several people handling an illegal gun when it discharged inside an apartment in the Moda complex in Norwest.
The boy died three days after he was rushed to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead suffering wounds to his face and neck. The boy’s father, who is a convicted cocaine dealer, was among the family members who paid tribute to the boy after his life support was switched off.
“RIP my baby,” he wrote alongside a photo of the pair. Other members of the boy’s extended family are linked to organised crime and known to police.
The boy’s family has co-operated with police. However, none of the other occupants inside the apartment have co-operated with investigators, who as a result have been unable to establish how the boy was shot.
Bechara will appear in bail court on Wednesday following his latest charge. Police haven’t ruled out further arrests as they continue to investigate the circumstances leading to the boy’s death.
The murder charge comes one week after Reece Fakr, an alleged key player for the high-profile Coconut Cartel, was arrested at Sydney International Airport as he attempted to leave the country.
Fakr, 18, allegedly left a phone at the Norwest apartment, on which detectives found evidence of alleged criminal offences. He has been charged with 10 offences, including conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, arson and directing a criminal group.
Fakr isn’t related to the child. He remains behind bars ahead of his next court appearance on December 8.
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