Wael Ali, Twin Accused in Columbia of Murdering Brother, Shot to Death in Georgia

This story was updated Tuesday at 4:53 p.m.

Wael Ali, the Columbia man who stood trial for two weeks in Howard County in 2012 in the killing of his identical twin, Wasel, has been shot and killed in Marrietta, GA, in an apparent accident, according to news reports.

The Baltimore Sun reports Ali, 25, was shot in the neck and killed by a family friend inside the Laziza Restaurant in Marrietta, GA, around 10:30 p.m. on Friday. Raouf Sanad, the friend and owner of the restaurant, was being shown a gun owned by Ali when it fired, reported the Sun.

Mutliple witnesses corroborated the report, according to local police interviewed by the Sun. Police charged Sanad with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and pointing a weapon at another person.

Howard County Police charged Ali with the murder of his twin brother in Sept. 2011 after the case was cold for four years. During that time, Wael was living in Marrietta with his parents.

Wasel Ali’s body was found in August 2007 on a secluded Columbia pathway behind Green Meadow Drive, near the Merion Apartment building.

Ali stood trial in the spring of 2012. A medical examiner said Wasel Ali died from asphyxiation and had declared the manner of death homicide, but after a two-week trial, the jury was deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.

During the trial, testimony revolved around the hours after the twins were implicated in a theft scheme at Banana Republic at The Mall in Columbia, where Wasel worked. Prosecutors said an angry Wael picked his brother up from his job, found out about the theft scheme, brought Wasel to the wooded area where they hung out during their childhood and strangled him.

However, the defense maintained the prosecution only presented circumstantial evidence and could not link Wael to the crime scene or the body. The last moment the two brothers were spotted together was on video footage from a surveillance camera at The Mall in Columbia that showed them leaving in opposite directions.

Prosecutors presented DNA evidence during the trial that showed the DNA on Wasel’s wallet found at the scene matched Wael’s, but because the brothers were identical twins, they had the same DNA.

Ali’s family members and friends greeted him as he was released from prison. He first hugged his mother, then his father.

“This is a victory for my family,” said Ali in the prison’s parking lot. “This is the start of a new life for me.”

“I’m the happiest person on the whole earth right now,” said Ali’s father outside the courthouse after it was announced his son would be released. “I believe in the justice system here and that justice prevailed today.”

Although the case was never closed due to the mistrial, a Howard County police spokesperson told the Sun it will now be reviewed again and confirmed Wael Ali was the primary suspect.

"The man is dead and labeling him as their chief suspect, I'm not sure what that accomplishes," said Ali's trial attorney, Jason Shapiro.

Prosecutors declined to prosecute the case after the mistrial. Senior state’s attorney James Dietrich said at the time, “We thought it was a strong circumstantial case, but it was a circumstantial case; we were always up against that.”

Shaprio said the circumstances of Ali's death is a tragedy.

"It's just a tragedy all the way around," said Shapiro. "This family, this mother and father, lost both their sons before they should have."