Four convicted after funeral drive-by shooting

The men believed members of a rival gang would be at the service in central London, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police at the scene of the shooting (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Archive)

Four men have been convicted after a drive-by shooting outside a church in central London.

Four women and two girls, aged 11 and seven, were shot with a sawn-off shotgun fired into a crowd of people outside a funeral at St Aloysius Church in Phoenix Road, Euston, in January 2023.

Tyrell Lacroix, 23, Jashy Perch, 20, Jordan Walters, 24 and Alrico Nelson-Martin, 20, were convicted of conspiracy to wound with intent to cause serious harm, at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Nelson-Martin was also convicted of possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life.

One of the girls was left with a metal pellet embedded in a muscle close to her heart, which will have an impact for the rest of her life, and one of the women was left with serious injuries that have affected her hearing and balance.

The innocent women and girls who were injured will have to deal with the impact of that for the rest of their lives

Detective Inspector Darren Jones

The memorial service was a Requiem Mass for Sara Sanchez, 20, and her mother, Fresia Calderon, 50, who died in November.

Ms Sanchez had suffered from leukaemia for three years. She died after her mother died suddenly from a rare blood clot on arrival at Heathrow from Colombia.

The planning of the attack began in November 2022 when Lacroix found the black Toyota car that would be used in the shooting, Scotland Yard said.

Lacroix was part of a gang in north London and believed members of a rival gang would be at the memorial service.

Over the weeks that followed, he was in contact with the other men as they made their preparations.

On January 14 2023, Lacroix, Walters and Perch completed a number of circuits outside the church before one of them opened fire into the crowd, the Met said.

Mourners had turned to look at doves being released from the church steps.

Officers viewed about 2,000 hours of footage to track the car after it left.

The men will be sentenced at the same court on April 12.

Inquiries continue to identify a fourth man who was in the car at the time of the shooting, police said.

Detective Inspector Darren Jones, from the Specialist Crime Trident Investigation team, said: “These dangerous men brought unimaginable fear and horror to the streets of London.

“They cowardly shot at mourners as they gathered outside a church.

“The innocent women and girls who were injured will have to deal with the impact of that for the rest of their lives.”