Keon Lincoln: Fifth man guilty of killing 15-year-old boy after four teenagers convicted of gun and knife murder
Keon Lincoln, 15, was killed in January after an attack near his home in Handsworth, Birmingham.
Friday 5 November 2021 15:13, UK
A fifth man has been found guilty of killing schoolboy Keon Lincoln in Birmingham.
Kieron Donaldson, 18, was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday, having been accused of helping and supplying weapons for the attack.
A 14-year-old gunman and three other teenagers were found guilty of murdering Keon Lincoln on Thursday.
Keon, 15, was stabbed and shot dead during a 30-second gang attack near his home in Handsworth, Birmingham, in January.
He died two hours later at Birmingham Children's Hospital.
The 14-year-old gunman, who cannot be identified due to his age, was convicted on Thursday along with a 16-year-old from Walsall, who was caught on CCTV holding a large knife as Keon was attacked.
Tahjgeem Breaken-Ridge, 18, from Balsall Heath; and Michael Ugochukwu, 18, from Edgbaston were also found guilty of murder after more than 15 hours of jury deliberations.
The 14-year-old was also convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, while the 16-year-old, Breaken-Ridge, and Ugochukwu were also convicted of having an offensive weapon.
During the five-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, the jury was told that Keon was stabbed eight times but the fatal injury was to his abdomen from one of two gunshots fired during the attack at 3.35pm on 21 January.
The trial heard that Breaken-Ridge, Ugochukwu, and the 16-year-old were seen on CCTV holding long knives, and that Donaldson, of Aston Lane, Perry Barr, was alleged to have "helped and supplied weapons" for the attack.
Keon's mother, Sharmaine Lincoln, said: "I'm in a nightmare that I cannot wake up from. My heart is broken beyond repair. A piece of my soul has been taken from me.
"I see my baby boy's face as he lay slumped on the ground struggling to breathe.
"I hear the words 'his heart has stopped'. I miss my boy so much that it physically hurts.
"I would not wish this suffering on anyone and I can only hope that a day will come when the senseless murdering of children, will come to an end."
Close family friend Reverend Neville Popo said Keon was killed by "what can only be described as senseless violence".
"When young people attach themselves to potentially violent groups and then begin to act out moments of violence, they are never truly aware of the consequences of their actions.
"We know that the system offers consequences to deter such behaviour, but other than the potential fear of arrest and incarceration, I argue that young people do not think about how their actions impact the lives of so many others.
"Young people that kill fail to understand that once they have taken a life, they cannot reverse their actions; they must live with this reality for the rest of their lives and all that comes with it."
The four defendants convicted of murder were all remanded in custody by judge Lord Justice William Davis.
They and Donaldson will be sentenced on 29 November.