Prosecution of a drugs gang for a murder that took place in Croydon almost four years ago this week reached a conclusion, of sorts, at the re-trial of two of the gang members.
Guilty: Tyreece Riggon needed a re-trial to be convicted of GBH
On February 5 2021, 22-year-old Lavaun Witter was fatally stabbed in the leg with a Samurai sword after four men broke into a flat in Wisbeach Road, Selhurst.
The gang, who were all armed with long knives and swords, demanded drugs to be handed over and slashed through an internal door to get to Witter, who had barricaded himself in with two other men and a 16-year-old boy.
Witter and the 16-year-old, who also suffered a stab injury, managed to run away from the scene, but Witter collapsed a short distance away, and died a short time later.
A combination of witness statements and CCTV identified Tyreece Riggon, Julian Russell, Tyreece Wolfries-Parkin and Alex Pasley as the men involved in the fatal attack.
On February 18 2021, police raided an address linked to Riggon, whered he and Russell were arrested. A search of an address linked to Russell recovered a Louis Vuitton bag belonging to Lavaun.
Wolfries-Parkin and Pasley were arrested in the weeks that followed.
All four were charged with the murder of Lavaun Witter, as well as attempted murder and attempted grievous bodily harm of the 16-year-old.
At a trial at the Old Bailey in July 2023, Julian Russell, 26, of Sandfield Road, Thornton Heath, and Tyreece Wolfries-Parkins, 22, were found guilty of murder.
Alex Pasley, 29, of Paxton Grove, Coulsdon, was found guilty of manslaughter.
‘No chance’: Lavaun Witter was murdered in Selhurst in 2021
Last month, a re-trial began for Tyreece Riggon, 24, of Armistice Gardens, South Norwood, who on Thursday was found guilty of attempted GBH. Pasley was also found guilty of attempted GBH in relation to the attack on the 16-year-old boy.
Sentencing will take place at the Old Bailey on January 16.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Nolan, who led the investigation, said: “A shocking level of violence was used by these men, who were determined to gain possession of drugs they believed to be inside the flat.
“Lavaun stood no chance against four men armed with large knives, including a Samurai sword.
“It is important that all four men involved in the Lavaun have been identified and brought to justice.
“The streets of London will be safer now they will be in jail for a considerable period of time.”
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