Mustafa Alhassan jailed for 13 years over death of rapper Christopher Habiyakare

A crook who broke into a rapper’s Sunshine North home to steal $1m, shooting and killing him during the invasion has been jailed.

Melbourne rapper Christopher Habiyakare died after he was shot in the chest at his Sunshine North home in August 2021. Picture: Supplied

A crook who believed a Melbourne rapper had $1m stashed inside his home broke into the property and shot him dead before fleeing the scene.

Melbourne man Mustafa Alhassan, 21, was sentenced to 13 years’ jail with a non-parole period of eight years after pleading guilty to committing a homicide by firearm for the killing of Christopher Habiyakare.

Mustafa and his co-offenders Daniel Sissal and Mohamed Mohamed — all wearing face masks — invaded Mr Habiyakare’s Essex St home in Sunshine North home on August 24, 2021, intending to steal a rumoured $1m stored at the property.

Prior to the invasion, Mr Habiyakare was watching TV with friends when they heard a knock on the door.

Mustafa Alhassan arriving at the Supreme Court in Melbourne on March 26, 2025. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

Mustafa, armed with a sawn-off .22 calibre rifle while his co-offenders were equipped a machete and taser barged into Mr Habiyakare’s home.

Some of Mr Habiyakare’s friends were able to escape through the lounge room window, but the rapper was killed after Mustafa fired a bullet into his chest.

CCTV footage captured on the night when Mr Habiyakare was shot dead in his home in August 2021.

A few days later, police found more than $41,000 cash and drugs in Mr Habiyakare’s homes.

In October that year, Mustafa, Sissal, Mohamed and another male planned to commit another home invasion in Maribyrnong.

“Notwithstanding that someone had died at your hand in the August home invasion, you agreed to provide a gun and ammunition for use in this new joint criminal enterprise,” Justice Christopher Beale said.

In November 2021, Christopher’s parents Belthrand and Aline Habiyakare spoke about their son’s death. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

In March 2022, Mustafa was arrested and charged with murder in relation to the 2021 home invasion.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Habiyakare’s dad Belthrand said he was devastated by the loss of his son.

“It has profoundly affected his mental health, he has difficulty concentrating, he suffers panic attacks,” Justice Christopher Beale said.

“He now struggles in his leadership role and withdrew from his masters at Melbourne University.”

Mr Habiyakare’s friends who were inside the home during the attack said, in a joint impact statement, the hurt and trauma always lingered and they didn’t know how the offenders could live with themselves.

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A character reference from Mustafa’s mum, a qualified NDIS worker, said her son had a non-violent nature and never stopped showing remorse for his offending.

But Justice Beale was not satisfied with Mustafa’s remorse, saying the trio was “armed to the teeth” and knew what Mustafa’s intentions were with the gun.

“You terrorised not only the deceased but his friends as well,” he said.

Outside court, Christopher’s dad Belthrand Habiyakare told the Herald Sun that, after some time had passed, he felt compassion toward the parents of the offenders.

“(I’m) thinking about how they are coping knowing their kids have done something that tragic,” Mr Habiyakare said.

“I’ve grown to forgive the families - I can’t continue to feel bad because what happened has happened and we can’t do anything about reversing that.”

He said although the sentencing could never be long enough, he hoped the trio would “learn to become better citizens” and “contribute to the prevention of crimes after they have done their time”.

“I’m just thankful I’ve seen some wonderful supporting hands throughout this whole thing - the police has kept me informed,” Mr Habiyakare said.

“I’ve been able to participate in some of the hearings, just to really understand the whole situation and what transpired on the day.

“That helped form some understanding of the tragedy.”

Daniel Sissal was jailed for four years and Mohamed Mohamed nine years after the pair pleaded guilty to manslaughter.