Aspiring drill rapper and three gang members who 'glorified' murder in rap video jailed for life
14 January 2025, 15:42
An aspiring drill rapper has been jailed for life alongside three gang associates over a tit-for-tat revenge shooting that left a young father dead.
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Kammar Henry-Richards, 26, known as Kay-O, was involved in the murder of Kacey Boothe on August 13, 2022, before he boasted about the attack in a rap video which "glorified" the murder.
During the video, Richards claimed that the same gun was used to injure the victim's brother in a shooting two years earlier.
On Tuesday, Richards was jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 37 years for Mr Boothe's 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 involved 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.
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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 a child belonging to his friend, Mr Samanter, at the Peterhouse Community Centre in Walthamstow.
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.
Mr Boothe's older brother Kyle Boothe survived being shot with the same gun in August 2020.
After Mr Boothe's death, Henry-Richards bragged about the killing in a rap video called Kay-O Laughing Stock.
The lyrics read: "Big Boothe and Little got hit, same sig, that's a sour family.
"Both got slapped at functions, neck and head, handguns come handy."
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard KC said: "The video goaded London Fields Gang, one of the E9/Holly Street Gang enemies, and glorified the murder of Kacey Boothe.
"The track contained specific information about the circumstances in which Kacey Boothe had been killed that were not in the public domain."
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."
Earlier, Mr Boothe's mother Marcia Rowe, said in an impact statement that there was "no limit to the endless suffering we all feel and must live with every day".
She said: "This unexplained callous murder has taken away Kacey's dreams and aspirations, at the age of just 25 when he had his whole life ahead of him."
Shanice Thomas-Brown, Mr Boothe's partner, said in her impact statement that their children had been "forced to develop an understanding of life, death, danger and violence".
She said: "Losing Kacey is the worst thing that's ever happened to us and although he is not with us, his name will forever live on in our family."
