Five months later, arrested for murdering resident of the home
Took plea deal from Sarah George – original charge was attempted murder
Arrested 23 times as teenager, POI/Suspect in 34 other cases
By Mike Donoghue
Vermont News First
A Burlington gang member, who is awaiting trial on a murder charge, has been sentenced to 5 to 7 years in prison for firing nine gunshots into an occupied apartment on Riverside Avenue three years ago, records show. Eight people escaped injury.
Abdiaziz “Drill” Abdhikadir, 22, of Intervale Avenue has been considered one of the top poster children of what is drastically wrong with the Vermont Juvenile Court system, authorities have said.
Abdhikadir, also known as Abdi Abdi and Abdi Kadir, was linked to a juvenile gang in Burlington, police said.
Abdhikadir was due for an adult court trial on an attempted murder charge next month for the Riverside Avenue shooting. State’s Attorney Sarah George struck a deal that allowed him to plead to a reduced charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the Feb. 12, 2022 shooting.
The two sides agreed to a 5-to-7-year sentence, which Vermont Superior Court Judge John Pacht imposed during a hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Burlington Police said they collected nine bullet casings and two projectiles after Abdhikadir emptied a handgun into the Mubarak family apartment at 669 Riverside Avenue with eight people inside on Feb. 12, 2022.
It was five months later that Abdhikadir reportedly fired and killed Hussein Mubarak, 21, in the Old North End, police said.
They said Hussein Mubarak had left the Riverside Avenue apartment the evening of July 7 and was shot in the head near Luck Street and Intervale Avenue. He was struck about 7:40 p.m. and died before midnight, police said. Initial reports indicated that up to five shots may have been fired.
It took Burlington Police several months before they collected enough evidence to charge him in the homicide.
Pacht also agreed Thursday to set the jury trial in that murder charge for January 12. It is expected to last 2 ½ weeks, Pacht said.
A review of Abdhikadir’s police involvement in the state computer system between 2013 and 2022, when he was 19, showed “he is designated as the arrestee 23 times by local law enforcement,” records show.
Those included three assaults, one burglary, one felony domestic assault, two driving while under the influence, three larcenies, two robberies, two possession of stolen property, two stolen vehicles and four violations of conditions imposed by judges, court records show. He also fled from a juvenile detention center in 2020, police said.
Besides his multiple arrests between 2015 and 2022, Abdhikadir has been a “person of interest” or “suspect” in 34 other incidents, police said in court papers.
Abdhikadir is now in adult court, where things could become a little more severe.
A bill passed this year extended implementation of the raise the age for Youthful Offender status in Vermont, because the state has no facilities or programs to handle young offenders.
Sarah George said during the hearing the Mubaraks were happy to get the shooting case resolved, but also knew it had the homicide case still ahead.
She said it brought “some sense of closure” by resolving the shooting.
Abdhikadir, who was dressed in a green prison uniform with shackles on his ankles, answered questions, but said little during the hearing.
Defense lawyer Jessica Burke told the court her client was somewhat limited in being able to make comments about the Riverside Avenue incident because of the homicide charge still pending.
The Chittenden County Sheriff’s Department transported him back to the Northwest State Correctional Facility to continue his sentence. Abdhikadir is expected to get credit for time served since his arrest.
The Vermont Daily Chronicle reported that Mubarak was at last the sixth – and possibly the seventh – person with a drug crime record to die by gunfire in Vermont during a six-month stretch in 2022. The Chronicle warned the list of 7 cases might not be all inclusive.
