LONDON: A promising drill artist and three gang associates have been jailed for life over the tit-for-tat revenge shooting of young father which was “glorified” in a rap video.
Kammar Henry-Richards, known as Kay-O, was involved in the murder of Kacey Boothe on August 13 2022 then boasted on video that the same gun was used to injure the victim’s brother two years earlier.
On Tuesday, the 26-year-old was jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 37 years for the murder. Judge Lynn Tayton KC said: “This was a planned revenge attack arising out of gang rivalry in the context of an ongoing pattern of serious tit-for-tat violence.
“It is sad that a young man with such bright prospects should have become in such offending.” She noted that drill music played a “limited” part in the evidence in the case which also included CCTV and cell site data.
Henry-Richards, Ka’mani Brightly-Donaldson, 25, of Romford, Jeffrey Gyimah, 23, and Joao Pateco-Te, 28, both of Hackney, were found guilty of murder, conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess a firearm or firearms with intent to endanger life.
Brightly-Donaldson was also convicted of having a prohibited firearm. All four defendants had admitted being associated with the E9 or linked Holly Street gangs and had previous convictions.
Ka’mani Brightly-Donaldson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years; Gyimah was handed a minimum term of 35 years; and Pateco-Te was told he would spend at least 37 years behind bars. E9 gang associate Roody Thomas, 27, of Birmingham, who admitted having a prohibited firearm was jailed for five years. Mr Boothe, 25, was shot as he got into his car outside the first birthday party of Mr Samanter’s child at the Peterhouse Community Centre in Walthamstow.
Mr Boothe’s older brother Kyle Boothe survived being shot with the same gun in August 2020. Eleven days before the murder, Mr Samanter’s “entirely innocent” neighbour Abdi-Rahman Jeylaani was injured when he was shot as he sat in his car near his home in a case of mistaken identity.
After Mr Boothe’s death, Henry-Richards bragged about the killing in a rap video called Kay-O Laughing Stock.
During the sentencing, Judge Tayton said Mr Boothe was targeted because of his association with London’s gang culture, but added: “He was first and foremost a young man with his life ahead of him who leaves behind a mother, partner and children.”