Accused in fatal shooting of London nurse expected to plead guilty
A scheduled homicide trial starting Monday of a man charged in the shooting death of Lynda Marques has taken an unexpected turn.
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A homicide trial set to begin next week for a man charged in the shooting death of a London nurse has taken an unexpected turn.
Ammar Patel, 21, is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 10, 2021, death of Lynda Marques, 30, who was fatally shot in her Hyde Park home’s driveway. A jury trial was scheduled to begin Monday in Superior Court.
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But on Friday, the case was brought forward before Justice Alissa Mitchell. Patel, appearing remotely from a detention facility, re-elected to be tried by a judge alone.
Assistant Crown attorney Meredith Gardiner told Mitchell at the beginning of the hearing “that the matter has resolved” and it’s anticipated that instead of a trial, Patel will enter a guilty plea Monday morning.
Friday’s hearing was essentially held to give court staff time to notify prospective jurors that their services are no longer required.
It’s expected Gardiner and defence lawyer Katie Scott will have a completed statement of agreed facts and a joint submission on sentence Monday after Patel enters his guilty plea, Mitchell was told.
Mitchell asked if there would be any victim impact statements. “We have canvassed the appropriate parties and we are not anticipating any,” Gardiner said.
Patel, of Toronto, was 18 when he was arrested more than six months after the shooting. He was already in custody, swept up in a Toronto gun-and-drug investigation.
London police set up a task force of about 30 officers to investigate the homicide, and in March 2022 released a photo of two masked men running with handguns toward Marques’ Wateroak Drive home along with an image of a third suspect.
Police called the killing “targeted.” The suspects had travelled to London from the Toronto area the day before the shooting and fled immediately after.
A black Volkswagen Jetta that police suspect was used in the attack had been reported stolen from Scarborough on Sept. 5, 2021. It was later found on Meadowlily Road South in London. A second vehicle, a Ford Fusion believed to have been used to flee the city, was also recovered.
Marques worked at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital before starting her own medical esthetics business in London, offering cosmetic filler injections and other procedures. She lived with her boyfriend Ali Bhatti and their young son.
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