Eight years after inflicting life-changing injuries on a teenager, a man has been convicted of murder

A man has been convicted of murder after a teenager he beat died from his injuries after more than six years of nursing care.

Tyrese Osei-Kofi, 25 (18/06/99), of no fixed address, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, November 1, where he pleaded guilty to murder.

On 14 October 2016, just after 7pm, London Ambulance Service (LAS) called police to reports that a young man had been stabbed in Triangle Place, SW4.

Officers and LAS arrived at the scene and found 17-year-old Jamel Boyce suffering from stab wounds to the chest and leg. Although this last wound was superficial, the first pierced his heart and punctured a lung, causing Jamel to fall and go into cardiac arrest.

Paramedics and a trauma team performed surgery on the side of the road and managed to restart Jamel’s heart before he was taken to hospital.

Unfortunately, the heart injury deprived him of oxygen for a critical 14 minutes, leaving Jamel in a persistent vegetative state and requiring 24-hour nursing care.

Osei-Kofi was convicted of grievous bodily harm following a trial at the Old Bailey in February 2018. He was found not guilty of attempted murder. In May 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On Tuesday, February 13, 2022, after 6.5 years of care, Jamel sadly passed away.

An autopsy performed on February 16, 2022 determined Jamel’s provisional cause of death as penetrating chest injuries.

Homicide detectives from the Met’s specialist crime command opened a murder investigation against Osei-Kofi.

said Inspector Andy Griffin of the Met’s Crime Command: “Jamel was a business student. He had no gang affiliations and those who knew him described him as a polite, conscientious and shy young man – it’s heartbreaking that he could be so cruelly torn from his family.

“I am glad that the defendant’s guilty plea spared Jamel’s family the agony of a second trial. “I sincerely hope that today’s plea brings them the satisfaction of knowing that the person responsible for their son’s death has been brought to justice.”

Osei-Kofi was remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear before the same court on Friday, December 6.