The mother of a man who was fatally shot outside a children’s birthday party has bravely said she “feels sorrow for the pain” the killers and their family will experience as they face years behind bars. Kacey Boothe, 25, was shot dead as he got into his car outside a birthday party in Walthamstow on August 13 in 2022.
Kammar Henry-Richards, known as Kay-O, was found guilty of murdering Mr Boothe after boasting on video that the victim was killed with the same gun that injured Mr Boothe’s brother two years earlier. Henry-Richards, 26, was convicted alongside three others over Mr Boothe’s death as well as a plot to murder the intended target Khalid Samanter.
The shooting happened outside the Peterhouse Community Centre where people had gathered for the first birthday party of Mr Samanter’s child. The two groups of men were associated with rival gangs, the court heard.
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Marcia Rowe, Mr Boothe’s mother, said in an impact statement that there is “no limit to the endless suffering we all feel and must live with every day”. She also said she hopes the killers “will show remorse and regret for what they have done”.
In the statement, read by the prosecution at a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey on Monday, she continued: “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.
“There are so many emotions I have in regards to the defendants, I feel anger, hurt and pain and the whole case saddened me. I feel relief that some justice will be served and my son’s killers have been caught. A part of me feels sorrow for the pain that they, their families and their children will now go through and I hope that each of them will show remorse and regret for what they have done.”
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 in December last year following a trial. They were also convicted of conspiracy to murder Mr Samanter and conspiracy to possess a firearm or firearms with intent to endanger life.
Brightly-Donaldson was also convicted of having a prohibited firearm. Roody Thomas, 27, of Birmingham, admitted having a prohibited firearm, but other charges against him were not proceeded with.
“Losing Kacey is the worst thing that’s ever happened to us”
Shanice Thomas-Brown, Mr Boothe’s partner, said in an impact statement that their children have been “forced to develop an understanding of life, death, danger and violence”.
“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,” she went on. “Our kids enjoy visiting him at the cemetery, looking at videos and pictures and cuddling their teddy that has a recording of his voice inside.”
The gun used in Mr Boothe’s murder was used on seven occasions between 2020 and the day he was killed. Mr Boothe’s older brother Kyle Boothe survived being shot with it in August 2020.
Days 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.” In another version, the lyrics read: “Big Boothe shoulda lurked, got his neck back ripped. Lil’ got burst, shoulda bin with his.”
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard KC told the court on Monday: “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,” Mr Orchard added.
Eleven days before the murder, Mr Samanter’s “entirely innocent” neighbour Abdi-Rahman Jeylaani was shot as he sat in his car near his home in a case of mistaken identity. He survived the attack but described the enduring pain in an impact statement written two years on from the incident, saying: “The pain, indescribable and raw, is a constant companion.”
The sentencing hearing continues.