Two robbers who knifed a university graduate to death for his mobile phone are facing life sentences.
Nah’shun Thomas, 20, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, cycled around Southwark looking for people to mug.
Thomas and the teenager carried out two phone robberies before they targeted Kalabe Legesse, 29, as he sat on a bench in Peckham Rye Park chatting to a friend on December 30, 2022.
Mr Legesse’s pal later told police he heard the killers asking the victim ‘Where are you from?’ and ‘What have you got on you?’
Me Legesse was threatened and then stabbed once to the heart, Croydon Crown Court heard. He collapsed on the park bench and died despite the desperate efforts of police officers and medics.
Met Police detectives trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV and tracked the killers’ escape routes back to their homes. Officers found a black handled hunting knife with traces of Mr Legesse’s blood inside the sheath at the 17-year-old’s address.
Thomas and the 17-year-old both denied but were convicted of murder by a jury. The pair had both admitted two counts of robbery in relation to the two phone muggings carried out earlier that evening.
Kalabe Legesse, who was knifed to death in Peckham Rye Park in December 2022
Nah’shun Thomas, who has been convicted of murder
Jurors heard how the victim was threatened by the two thugs, before being stabbed in the heart and collapsing on the park bench. He died despite the efforts of London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance.
A post-mortem examination determined that the cause of death was a haemorrhage, resulting from a single stab wound to the heart.
Met Police detectives trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV and tracked the killers’ escape routes back to their homes.
Officers found a black handled hunting knife with traces of Mr Legesse’s blood inside the sheath at the 17-year-old’s address.
Thomas, of Bournemouth Road, Peckham, and the 17-year-old, both denied but were convicted of murder by a jury.
The pair had both admitted two counts of robbery in relation to the two phone muggings carried out earlier that evening.
They were remanded in custody ahead of sentence at Croydon Crown Court on 19 April.
Mr Legesse’s family said in a statement: ‘Nothing can bring back our son Kalabe.
‘He was doing nothing wrong on the night that he was killed and we will never understand why he was murdered over a mobile phone. The defendants have not shown any remorse for what they did to him. We have recently passed the anniversary of his death; Christmas and New Year for us will never be the same again.
‘Kalabe was loved by everyone he met and had an exciting future ahead of him. He will never be able to have a family of his own, and our family will never have him back.
‘We are grateful to the investigation team for their hard work for over a year to bring these people to justice.’
Mr Legesse, pictured, was threatened by the two thugs before the stabbing
Police at the scene in Peckham, south London on December 31, 2022
At the time, police officers described the incident as a ‘brutal and senseless attack’.
Detective Inspector Adam Guttridge said: ‘The defendants were riding around the area, armed with a knife that they were prepared to use to commit violent offences.
‘With crime comes accountability and consequences. For cruelly and needlessly ending Kalabe Legesse’s life, they will have years ahead of them in prison to reflect on their actions and the lives they have destroyed.’
DI Guttridge added: ‘My thoughts today are with Kalabe Legesse’s family as they continue to come to terms with their loss. It is my sincere wish that they find some comfort in knowing that justice has been served.