Family of stabbed young basketball player breaks silence with heartbreaking statement as thugs face trial for brutal attack

The South Sudanese community has lost a “beacon of hope” when a promising young basketball player was stabbed to death in an unprovoked street attack, his family said.

Alier Riak was out celebrating his 23rd birthday on March 13, 2022, when brothers Teamrat Kassa and Aron Gebregiorgis and four other men ambushed him and his friends.

Their first target was Riak's brother Kuol, whom they attacked with punches and stabs in Bourke Street in central Melbourne.

Mr Riak tried to defend his brother when the attackers turned on him instead and chased him into a nearby park.

Kassa and Gebregiorgis stabbed Mr Riak repeatedly in the chest and legs before he staggered back to his friends and collapsed on the street.

Video footage shows Gebregiorgis calmly walking away from the scene, taking off his blood-stained sweater, while Kassa and the rest of his group remain close to Mr Riak as first the police and then paramedics arrive.

Mr Riak died on the way to hospital, while his brother Kuol was admitted to Alfred with four stab wounds to his back and arms.

Gebregiorgis and Kassa were arrested and charged with the violent attack on March 18.

Alier Riak was stabbed to death by thugs in Melbourne CBD in March 2022

On Thursday, both pleaded guilty to murder in the Supreme Court of Victoria and Kassa also admitted negligently causing injury to Kuol Riak.

Fourteen victim impact statements from Alier Riak's family and leaders of the South Sudanese community were read to the court.

They described Mr Riak as a promising young basketball player who was due to start a new professional contract in Darwin in the days following his death.

In addition, he was a mentor to the South Sudanese community in WA, having lived there since migrating with his family as a young child.

“Alier was a role model and a beacon of hope for his community,” his mother, Elizabeth Malek, said in her statement.

“Our family was once happy, but this loss has devastated them.”

Kassa's only explanation for the murder was that he “heard something he didn't like that happened to a colleague,” his lawyer Ashley Halphen said in court.

The 21-year-old was released from prison on probation a week before the attack, he said.

Aron Gebregiorgis (pictured) and team councillor Kassa pleaded guilty to murder

He said the murder was not premeditated and that Kassa was a young man who acted impulsively under the influence of Xanax and alcohol.

His brother Gebregiorgis also abused prescription drugs and cannabis before the murder, said lawyer Sam Norton.

He stated that there was no explanation for his client's conduct, but that he had pleaded guilty and shown remorse.

Gebregiorgis turned himself in to police before charges were filed and has since written a letter of apology to the court, Norton said.

Kassa also submitted a letter of apology, but prosecutor Neill Hutton pointed out that both statements were written recently.

“It's a kind of convenient remorse – these letters were not produced 12 or 18 months ago,” he told the court.

Mr Hutton said the killing was a completely unprovoked attack on an unarmed group attempting to retreat.

Judge John Champion found that the seriousness of the crime was increased by the fact that Kassa and Gebregiorgis stalked their victims.

“One minute or so ruins anyone’s life for a lifetime,” the judge said.

He will sentence the couple at a later date.

Outside court, Riak's father James said the family was hoping for the best outcome from the judge.

“We are really very saddened,” he told reporters. “(Alier) was the icon of our family.”