In bid for early parole, admitted Toronto murderer claims he shot innocent stranger ‘to gain stripes’ with gangsters

Seeking “approval” from gangs, Awet Asfaha walked up to a total stranger on Mount Olive Drive in 2009 and pumped three shots into his back, the convicted murderer has testified in his bid to get early parole from a life sentence.

“To gain stripes,” Awet Asfaha told a jury at his “faint hope” hearing, explaining the shooting was like an initiation into gang membership. “To be taken more serious.”