Final attacker in Zack Noureddine killing convicted of 1st-degree murder

A third man accused of killing Zaher "Zack" Noureddine has been found guilty of first-degree murder and assault.

William Cummins was convicted by a jury on Friday, nearly four years after he and two other men fatally attacked Noureddine outside a Toronto restaurant.

The incident happened shortly after midnight on Dec. 30, 2015 near Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue.

Noureddine, a 25-year-old aspiring music journalist from Ottawa, died in hospital a few hours after the altercation.

"[Cummins] deserves what he got," said Magda Khatib, Noreddine's mother. "Hopefully it's going to be a lesson for bad people on the street."

The other men accused in the killing were previously convicted of lesser charges in a separate trial.

Patrick Smith, 28, was convicted of second-degree murder while Matthew Moreira, 34, was convicted of manslaughter and robbery. 

Cummins was tried separately from Smith and Moreira due to a mistrial.

After the jury announced its verdict to the court, members of both Noureddine and Cummins's family began weeping.

Cummins then asked Justice Rob Clark if he could hug his family before being escorted out of the courtroom.

"I am not unsympathetic, but I am going to say no," Clark said. "The victim's family did not get to hug their loved one."

Khatib and Cummins's mother embraced outside the court after the verdict. The two have gotten to know each other over the course of the trial, Khatib explained.

"She lost her son too, in a jail," she told CBC Toronto.

Cummins is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years.