Daily Mail

SHOT GIRL DIES IN MOTHER’S ARMS

Murder toll in London hits 48 as youth worker aged 17 and boy of 16 are latest to be gunned down

- By Rebecca Camber, Tom Witherow, Fionn Hargreaves and Isabella Fish

A GIRL of 17 died in her mother’s arms after being gunned down in a drive-by attack as part of an apparent gangland feud.

Tanesha Melbourne, who tried to turn children away from crime, was shot in the chest from a car as she walked down a street with friends.

The youth mentor was cradled by her mother as she died, just over an hour after the attack at 9.35pm on Monday.

The murder in Tottenham, North London – one of 48 killings in the capital so far this year – happened on a night of bloodshed in which 16year- old Amaan Shakoor was shot in an unrelated attack, dying last night.

Last night there was speculatio­n Tanesha’s killing had been part of a tit-for-tat gang feud played out over social media after a fight in a diner on Sunday she was not involved in.

Detectives admitted they did not know whether it was a targeted attack or Tanesha had simply been caught in the crossfire of warring gangs.

Tyesha Mingo, 21, was with Tanesha in her final moments. She said: ‘I tried to save her. I heard some shooting and I thought it was fireworks. Her mum came before the paramedics, she was screaming and shouting. Her whole family was here.

‘I was telling [Tanesha], “Everything is going to be OK.” I just kept repeating that.

‘She was not responding, but I could see she was looking at me. She was 17, she did not deserve that and her mum did not deserve to watch her daughter die.’ Last night Tanesha’s family demanded action to stop the bloodshed. Her mother Sharon wrote a tribute that said: ‘To my baby Nesha, I’m going to miss you so much. You’re always going to be with me everywhere I go, love Mummy.’

Tanesha’s aunt, who did not want to be named, said: ‘We are going to stop the shooting, we are going to stop these stabbings. This is my niece who is gone now, it is not good enough.

‘ We are going to bring this whole area to a standstill. My sister is in turmoil now and it is terrible.’

Aspiring beautician Tanesha was described as a role model who ‘would light up the room when she came into it with her beautiful smile’.

Her father Conrad Kingdom was jailed for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after being involved in a gang-related shooting in Edmonton, North London, in 2006.

But Miss Melbourne had become a mentor at a Tottenham youth centre helping children as young as ten. One friend said: ‘One of her roles was to teach the younger kids how to be good role models and how to lead positive lives.’

Another said: ‘Tanesha was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war.’

Her grandmothe­r Kathleen Kingdom said: ‘She was a familyorie­ntated girl who would never get caught up in trouble. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was a good girl and didn’t deserve this.’

She said of the attack: ‘I heard her mum screaming on the phone. Tanesha was a very happy girl, she had lots of friends. She didn’t mix with bad people.’

Tanesha’s uncle, Wayne, made a plea for the violence to stop, saying: ‘They killed my niece, blackonbla­ck crime must not be happening.’

The teenager had been a pupil at Gladesmore Community School, whose associate headmaster Goldwater Ojokor said: ‘She was a lovely, joyful, girl.

‘She was bright and bubbly, she was only a baby really. She just had this wonderful smile and was never in any bad trouble. She was always so positive to be around, you couldn’t not warm to her. She had a soft warm nature and she was funny.’

Labour MP David Lammy, who represents Tottenham, told the London Evening Standard the area’s rise in violence had been driven by organised crime.

He said: ‘We’ve had this vicious spike in knife and gun crime… fuelled by a turf war between two rival gangs in Tottenham and Wood Green.

‘What lies behind the gun violence and the knife crime is a serious drug market that is being driven big time by gangsters and

‘Innocent child caught in a postcode war’

McMafia bosses. That is absolutely clear.’ Last night detectives were examining CCTV of a fight at a burger bar in Farringdon, central London, amid speculatio­n on Twitter that a video of the scuffle was linked to Tanesha’s murder.

It comes days after Scotland Yard Commission­er Cressida Dick said gangs were using online platforms to glorify street violence and warned that videos on social media ‘rev people up’.

A neighbour, who was in the area shortly before Tanesha was killed, said: ‘I was walking down the street at about 9.30pm and I saw a group of people.

‘One of them said, “If Tanesha wants to fight I’ll back her because she’s your ex at the end of the day.” I think it was the people who were involved. There were about six people. It just looked like a heated conversati­on.’ A mother whose daughter had been with Tanesha on Monday night said the girls had been to McDonald’s and visited the youth centre before going to meet some boys.

CCTV footage emerged showing a girl, believed to be Tanesha, around an hour before she was shot as the friends passed an off-licence. The latest murder will bring fresh scrutiny on the Government’s efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country. The past two months of bloodshed have seen London’s murder rate overtake that of New York.

Theresa May’s spokesman said the Government was determined to do all it could to ‘break the cycle’ of violent crime.

Singer Jamelia, whose step-brother died in a knife attack, said social media was being used to hype violence, adding: ‘It breaks my heart to know that nothing has changed.’ Detective Chief Superinten­dent Richard Wood, of Scotland Yard’s murder squad, said it was ‘too early to say what the motive is’.

 ??  ?? Grief: Her mum Sharon at the scene MOTHER
Grief: Her mum Sharon at the scene MOTHER
 ??  ?? Role model: Tanesha Melbourne, who helped children at a youth centre, was shot dead
Role model: Tanesha Melbourne, who helped children at a youth centre, was shot dead

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