‘Assassin’ shot dead mother-of-nine, 53, and her sleeping nephew, 21, in a botched revenge hit after rivals shared trophy picture of their attack on him, court hears
- Assassin allegedly killed mother and her nephew in a botched revenge hit
- Neither Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo or his aunt Annie Besala Ekofo were the intended targets, jurors heard
- Obina Ezeoke, 28, allegedly crept into the family home in 2016 as part of a ‘vendetta of violence’ after rivals shared a ‘trophy’ image of their attack on him
A cowardly assassin killed an innocent mother-of-nine and her nephew in a botched revenge hit after rivals shared a ‘trophy’ image of their attack on him via Snapchat, a court heard.
Obina Ezeoke, 28, allegedly crept into a family home and shot 21-year-old student Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo in the back of his head while he slept in bed as part of a ‘vendetta of violence’.
He then blasted the victim’s aunt Annie Besala Ekofo, 53, in the chest when she came out of her bedroom dressed only in her underwear in the early hours of 15 September 2016, jurors heard.
Student Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo, 21, (left) was shot in the back of the head by the assassin, prompting his aunt Annie Besala Ekofo, 53, (right) to investigate. She was shot in the chest
The assassin is thought to have crept into the flat in East Finchley, north London before killing the two victims – with neither being intended targets
Neither Bervil nor Annie were the intended targets, the Old Bailey was told.
The accused double killer is facing his fourth retrial for two counts of murder.
Ezeoke insists he was on the Grahame Park Estate, Edgware, on the night of the killings at the flat in Elmshurst Crescent, East Finchley.
The estate is said to have been the backdrop of a longstanding feud between a group involved with Ms Ekofo’s son Ryan Efey, 22, and another, linked to Ezeoke.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors that the accused killer had travelled to Elmshurst Crescent in search of Mr Efey but shot his mother and cousin instead.
The accused killer was found by police ‘left for dead’ with a broken eye socket during an altercation on 9 February 2014 connected to the rivalry, it was said.
A ‘trophy’ photograph which was taken by his attackers and shared widely on the social media platform Snapchat was later allegedly found on the phone of Kaydean Efey, Ryan’s older brother.
Mr Kalikaka-Ekofo (left) was a student and was visiting the flat for one night only at short notice. Annie Besala Ekofo (right) was a mother-of-nine who came to the UK with her husband in 1991 from the Congo
Summing up the prosecution case, Mr Heywood said today: ‘On 9 February 2014, Mr Ezeoke was attacked, seriously attacked, as were those two who were with him. This was no half baked fight, someone went for him in a serious way.
‘A photograph was taken to humiliate him and then it was posted and circulated, and one of the phones which received it was that of Kaydean Efey.
‘That trophy relating to Ezeoke remained on the handset. His eye socket was broken.’
The prosecutor urged jurors to see Ezeoke as somebody willing to ‘escalate’ the shared hostility in such a deadly way.
Mr Heywood added: ‘It really boils down doesn’t it to a very small group of people.
‘It’s common ground that this arises from Grahame Park estate, from a history of antagonism, violence between people there and the Efey family.
‘That’s agreed. There’s no doubt that that’s what lies behind all this. The question is who fits into the category of someone who could escalate and take it to this degree?’
Ezeoke, of no fixed address, denies two counts of murder.
The trial continues.