Zaher Noureddine's family hopes for convictions after arrests
'Happiness at home — we can't find it anymore. We always just sit and cry and pray for him.'
Hassan and Magda Noureddine are still struggling to cope with the loss of their son after he was killed in a violent robbery in Toronto in December, but they're finding some comfort after two men were charged in his death this past week.
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Zaher Noureddine's photography can be found in almost every room of their Kanata home — a constant reminder of what they've lost.
"Happiness at home — we can't find it anymore. We always sit and think about him, and cry and pray for him," his mother told CBC News.
"I know Zack, he's in a safe place now, he's in safe hands, but still, you know, nothing is going to change with me because he's my son and I need my son," she said. "I want him to be alive."
Whenever she scowled, she said he would take her face in his hands and encourage her to smile.
"He was my best friend. Now I lost him," she said.
Zaher Noureddine studied journalism at Algonquin College in Ottawa before moving to Toronto where he worked as a music journalist and photographer.
The 25-year-old was fatally injured outside the St. Louis Bar and Grill on Yonge Street on Dec. 30. At the time, police said they were searching for three suspects.
This week, nearly four months after his death, Toronto police charged two men in their late 20s with robbery and second-degree murder.
A third man who is currently in custody on other matters has not been charged yet, police said.
"We are pleased they are behind bars now and hopefully they are convicted," Hassan Noureddine said.
The couple has started a foundation in their son's name to promote arts entrepreneurship as a way to stop violence among youth.