Two men guilty of murdering teenager in Maryland
Braeden Henry and Sean Obazee have been found guilty of murder. Picture: Met Police - Credit: Met Police
Two men have been found guilty of murdering a teenager who was shot after being asked: “What ends you from?”
Abdul Mayanja. Picture: Met Police - Credit: Metropolitan Police
Abdul Mayanja, 19, was shot as he sat on a wall with a female friend in Maryland after attending a barbecue on the night of August 25, 2017.
He was approached in Well Street by two men, one of whom was carrying a sawn-off shotgun and asked: "What ends you from?" or "Where you from?"
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC told jurors: "Without waiting for an answer, Abdul was shot.
"The gunmen returned to a dark vehicle, which drove off."
Mr Orchard said Abdul, a former RAF air cadet from Plaistow, was an "easy target" who was left to die.
The prosecution alleged the shooting was in revenge for an attack 25 days earlier on drug dealer Heracles Simos, cousin of two of the defendants.
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He had been shot in the back but survived, the court heard.
The court heard a grey Nissan Qashqai, used in the subsequent shooting, was found burning in the early hours of the following morning in Jade Close, Canning Town.
Sean Obazee, 25, from Plaistow, and Braeden Henry, 25, from Silvertown, were found guilty of murder following an Old Bailey trial.
Obazee collapsed in the dock as he was convicted then shouted out protesting his innocence as he was sent down.
He screamed: "I did not know them. I did not do it. What the f*** fam. I didn't do it."
The pair were remanded into custody to be sentenced on Friday, July 26.
Cousins Alex Simos, 20, from Manor Park, and Marvin Simos, 22, from North Woolwich, were found not guilty of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Alex Simos nodded and smiled and Marvin Simos laughed and stuck his tongue out in response.
The pair had admitted being in the car before the shooting, but denied knowing about the gun.
Kieron Aransibia, 24, from Beckton, and Jade Thrower, 24, from Manor Park, were cleared of perverting the course of justice.
Obazee and Henry will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, July 26.
