Four "cowardly" gangsters who put a seven-year-old girl in intensive care after a drive-by shooting outside a church have been jailed for 73 years.
The young girl still has a shotgun pellet stuck close to her heart after experiencing wounds to her lung, abdomen and groin. A woman was also injured and can no longer walk by herself, despite spending four months in hospital.
In total, four women and two children were injured after gunmen fired a sawn-off shotgun at a crowd of people outside St Alyosius Church in Euston, north London in January 2023. It's thought the incident was a gang-related attack.
The court heard victim impact statements, including one from the mother of the seven-year-old girl, who said: “My daughter used to be a happy and outgoing girl who loved princesses, singing, and dancing. But this incident has taken her innocence away from her.
“I will never forget a comment she said to me while we were in the hospital. It still pains me. She asked me: ‘Mummy, why is this happening to me?’ For a seven-year-old girl to say that, to feel she had done something wrong, is heartbreaking. I honestly thought I was going to lose my daughter.”
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Jashy Perch (Met Police / SWNS)
Alrico Nelson-Martin (Met Police / SWNS)Ringleader Tyrell La Croix, sentenced to 26 years, even celebrated the gang's show of strength later that evening following what was believed to be a revenge attack. At the time of the shooting, the victims had been attending a memorial service for Fresia Calderon, 50, and her daughter Sara Sanchez, 20, who died within weeks of each other through natural causes.
Detectives believe that one of the gunmen, a member of a gang in north London, had wanted to attack rival gang members who were at the service. Mourners had turned to watch doves being released from the church steps when the criminals drove by in a black Toyota and shot at them from the rear passenger window.
Tyrell La Croix, 23, Alrico Nelson-Martin, 20, Jordan Walters, 24, and Jashy Perch, 20 were all convicted of conspiracy to wound with intent to cause serious bodily harm during a trial at Kingston Crown Court this February.
Nelson-Martin was also convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and Perch was also convicted of possession of an offensive weapon. Another victim, who was present in court, held back tears as her statement was read out.
“Prior to the incident, I was an extremely hands on mother, taking my children to school, piano classes, swimming lessons, as well as trips on to London or Brighton. I had the freedom to do that. But now, I have lost my physical and mental freedom. I can no longer walk across the road without assistance. I no longer feel safe, often anxious that something bad will happen. I no longer take my children out by myself
“Financially, we are strained and close to losing our home, as I have been unable to work. And a day that was meant to be about remembering my friends was turned upside down by the actions of these individuals. It was a beautiful service which ended in a callous, cruel, and vicious way. I am a trusting person, and when this happened, it showed me how evil people can be.”
Today, at the same court, La Croix, who was the gang member and therefore described as the ‘organiser’ of the shooting, was jailed for 26 years comprised of 21 years in custody and five on licence. Nelson-Martin was sentenced to 14 years in a Young Offender Institution and Walters was jailed for 13 years. Perch was sentenced to 20 years, comprising 16 years in a Young Offender Institution and four years on licence.
Judge Mark Bryant-Heron KC said: “This was a carefully planned conspiracy, with the attack timed to have maximum impact and ensure maximum injury. La Croix, you were the leader of the group. This was your plan and the others acted for you. Nelson-Martin and Perch, you sourced the car and put numbers on it. Nelson-Martin, you hid the gun, which was later modified with a shortened barrel to make it more dangerous.
Tyrell Lacroix (Met Police / SWNS)
Jordan Walters (Met Police / SWNS)“Walters and La Croix, you drove from Willesden to the church to reconnoiter the place of the attack. La Croix and Perch, you were in the car at the time of the shooting.”
Judge Bryant-Heron added that La Croix went out "celebrating" on the evening of the attack. “You went out celebrating what you thought was a successful show of strength against a rival gang,” he said.
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“You had been stabbed a year prior by a member of a rival gang and you were set on revenge. The truly horrific nature of this crime is that you were all prepared to shoot and maim innocent members of the public in order to continue a violent feud between two rival gangs. The effect of the shooting was catastrophic. You caused injury, panic, and mayhem. It is the highest category of harm.”
The four defendants, all dressed in dark tracksuits, remained emotionless as their sentences were read out. But La Croix and Perch could be seen attempting to converse during the proceedings. During the trial, a jury was shown CCTV footage of mourners screaming and fleeing the service which took place on 14 January 2023.
Another video showed the black Toyota driving towards the church, with the rear passenger window down. A third showed the car making its escape, during which it drives at a considerable speed, overtakes a bus, drives on the wrong side of the road as it overtakes other cars, and jumps a red light.
Detectives from the Met Police trawled around 2,000 hours of CCTV footage to track the car and discovered that its number plates had been cloned. Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC explained during the trial: “The registered owner of Toyota KC19 KTA is a man who bought the vehicle in September 2022.
“He was shopping at his local supermarket when another Toyota bearing the same number plates was used to commit the shooting. This is a common tactic for those planning to commit a crime – to copy a number plate and use it on another vehicle. That reveals that this was a carefully planned operation.”
Officers received information that La Croix was involved in the shooting and phone data revealed that he had been in regular contact with three other men in the lead-up. A gun was found at Nelson-Martin's home address, and Perch’s fingerprints were traced to the gun. DNA which could have come from Walters was also found on the gun.
Commenting on the verdict, Detective Inspector Darren Jones, from the Specialist Crime Trident Investigation team, said: "These dangerous men brought unimaginable fear and horror to the streets of London. They cowardly shot at mourners as they gathered outside a church. The innocent women and girls who were injured will have to deal with the impact of that for the rest of their lives. This extensive and complex investigation demonstrates our relentless determination to identify dangerous offenders and bring them to justice."
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