TWO Coventry gang members have been found guilty of killing Jaydon James who was murdered just 11 days after celebrating his 16th birthday.
Frank Kenfack, 16, of no fixed address, will serve a minimum of 17 years with two six-year sentences for wounding to run concurrently and 19-year-old Abdi Hussein Abdi, from Rock Close, Bell Green, Coventry, will serve a minimum of 23 years with two nine-year sentences to run concurrently.
Jaydon, who lived in Wood End, was the victim of a postcode war between two feuding city gangs, say West Midlands Police.
Det Insp Stuart Mobberley, who was in charge of the investigation and featured in the interview below, said: “This was a young boy, just 11 days after his 16th birthday, whose life was so cruelly taken away. There are no words I can say to comfort his mother and his wider family, but I hope this conviction can go some way to help them come to terms with his death.
“I don’t believe that Jaydon was targeted that night, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and his killers were simply out for revenge.”
On the evening of November 24 2018 Jaydon and a group of his friends went to the local bowling alley and were later captured on CCTV in Hillmorton Road where a black Peugeot car suddenly pulled up. The occupants jumped out and chased the group.
Jaydon ran down a driveway by a church where his killers caught up with him and stabbed him in the back. Jaydon managed to stagger to the church’s rear car park, where his friends found him, two of whom had also received stab wounds to their legs.
All three were helped by a member of the public until emergency services arrived, but in spite of their best efforts, Jaydon who was taken to University Hospital Coventry, but tragically died from his injuries.
A few weeks before his death, Jaydon had confided in his mother that he feared gang members were out to assault him. Days later he was punched and robbed of his coat and mobile phone.
Detectives trawled hours of CCTV footage from the night Jaydon was murdered and traced his movements and those of his killers.
Crucial footage from a petrol station on Sewell Highway shows Frank Kenfack in a dark Peugeot. As Kenfack got out of the front passenger seat, something appeared hidden in the back of his jacket and seemed to restrict his movement. Officers believe this was a knife used to stab the victims.
By mapping 16-year-old Kenfack’s movements and evidence from his mobile phone records, detectives were able to establish that two other passengers in the car were Bongani Ngozi, also 16, and 19-year-old Abdi Hussein Abdi.
All three were arrested and charged with Jaydon’s murder, and yesterday (Tuesday November 10) Kenfack and Abdi were convicted of murder and two counts of wounding with intent. Bongani Ngozi was acquitted.
Jaydon James
Jaydon affectionately known to his friends as JJ and his family as Juie, leaves a close-knit family and community. His grieving mother, brother and sister, grandparents and uncles have all been left heartbroken.
Gemma James, Jaydon’s mum said: “My son didn’t get to finish his GCSE’s or go to his school prom. I won’t see my son grow into a man, for him to have a career, to grow as a person. I won’t get to spend special occasions with him that every parent takes for granted, those special landmark birthdays 18th, 21st etc. My son won’t bring home to me the girl he has chosen to marry, I won’t see him become a father.”
Jaydon’s grandmother described her grandson as a “cheeky charmer” who could ‘always wrap me around his finger’.
She said: “My grandson had the biggest heart and would do almost anything for anybody that needed help.”
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