Man accused in Elnaz Hajtamiri murder case charged with assaulting inmate
Mohamad Lilo, the 36-year-old Montreal-area man, accused in the murder and kidnapping of his former girlfriend, Elnaz Hajtamiri, has now been charged with assaulting an inmate at Central North Correctional Centre.
Lilo appeared briefly in a virtual courtroom from jail, where he's been held since his arrest on July 12, 2022.
He was initially charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder in the alleged abduction of Hajtamiri, who has been missing since January 12, 2022, when police say she was taken from a Wasaga Beach home where she'd gone into hiding weeks earlier.
Police said Hajtamiri was the victim of alleged criminal harassment by Lilo and feared for her safety.
According to investigators, Lilo is the common link between his ex-girlfriend's disappearance and a failed abduction attempt on December 20, 2021, in an underground parking garage in Richmond Hill.
One man has since pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the attack and has been deported. Another accused, Harshdeep Binner, is scheduled to stand trial later this year.
Lilo is one of about a dozen people charged in the Hajtamiri case.
Police continue to search for Deshawn Davis, 36, of Toronto, who is believed to be one of the three kidnappers police say posed as officers with a fake warrant for Hajtamiri's arrest before she was forcibly dragged from the home and loaded into a white Lexus SUV.
According to court documents, Lilo and another man, who has since died, assaulted a 64-year-old inmate at the Penetanguishene jail in October 2023.
Lilo returns to court later this month to answer to the charges.
The allegations against him have not been tested in court.
Lilo's lawyer in the Hajtamiri murder and kidnapping case, Anthony Bryant, declined to comment on the assault charge. Bryant said he has not been retained in this matter.
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