Music video clues that helped catch city killers
TV PROGRAMME SHOWS HOW POLICE USED YOUTUBE
KEY evidence found on Youtube helped catch the “pretend gangsters” who killed Lyrico Steede.
The first episode of Channel 4 crime documentary Digital Detectives: Catching Killers, focused on the fatal stabbing of the Nottingham teenager.
In Monday’s episode, viewers were shown how the police dealt with the investigation from start to finish, until they had five suspects in custody.
The 17-year-old was killed in Bulwell in February 2018, and the episode showed previously unseen bodycam and CCTV footage.
The episode began with a harrowing 999 call, in which a woman tells the operator Lyrico had been stabbed and is dying. Bodycam footage is then played, which shows officers at the scene.
Detective Superintendent Hayley Williams said: “Someone had chased down a child, stabbed him nearly 20 times, but there wasn’t much more he could say other than his name, Lyrico Steede. And that four people had attacked him.”
Lyrico’s mum, Keishaye, explained that when she was told what happened, she “almost felt like I couldn’t breathe. Nothing inside of me believed what he was saying”.
Lyrico and his sisters moved to the UK from Bermuda in 2014 with their dad, and his mum had only moved to join them a few months before the stabbing.
She said: “I was so closed-eyed to everything here in Nottingham until my son passed. He always reassured me that when he was out, that he was safe.”
Viewers saw how police identified Kasharn Campbell, 19, Christian Jameson, 18, Remmell Millercampbell, 18, an unnamed 17-yearold boy, and a 16-year-old girl as being involved in Lyrico’s death.
Det Supt Williams said: “We didn’t know why Lyrico had been killed.”
Lyrico suffered 18 wounds, which included six knife wounds to his face.
Det Supt Williams added that, with those injuries, “you’re not trying to scare someone, you’re trying to kill them”.
Despite having all suspects in custody, the police were still missing the motive and did another media appeal, to which a friend of Lyrico came forward with a damaged mobile phone, claiming it was Lyrico’s.
“It contained some very interesting social media views,” said digital media investigator Paul Howe.
One video showed people being chased down the street, with Lyrico’s group shouting after them and mocking them as they ran away.
Then further intelligence told the force to check Youtube, where detectives found two drill videos, which allowed them to understand the context of the incident and the suspects’ motives.
The first was uploaded by Lyrico and his friends, the second by the suspect.
Det Supt Williams explained: “On the first video we saw Lyrico standing at the back of the group.
“He was a minor player, he’s not one of the singers.”
In the track the group talk about the “Athlete Gang” and refer to Remmell, Christian and Kasharn.
The group also danced like they were running and referred to the other gang as cowards, mocking them for running away.
Det Supt Williams continued: “And then the final piece to the jigsaw was a video on Youtube, made by the Way Two gang – the lead singer it was Kasharn we know that for sure.”
They threaten anyone who calls them Athlete Gang, and talk about someone being stabbed in the chest and back, almost like they were bragging about killing Lyrico. Det Supt Williams stated: “These weren’t organised gangsters. They were kids who wanted to sing and pretend to be gangsters. “But obviously they just lost the concept of reality, but they were all in it. Not a single one of them said this is the wrong thing to do.” Campbell, 19, of no fixed address, and Jameson, 18, of Kirkbridge Court, Chilwell, were found guilty of murder and received sentences of 20 years and 16 years. Miller-campbell, 18, of Sneinton Boulevard, an unnamed 17-year-old boy, and the 16-year-old girl were all found guilty of manslaughter. Det Supt Williams added that she had nothing but “admiration” for Lyrico’s mum, who five years later is still out there spreading awareness and telling people what it is like to be the mother of a murdered
These weren’t organised gangsters. They were kids who wanted to pretend to be gangsters
DS Hayley Williams
child.
Keishaye said: “The pain doesn’t go, so I decided to move, after Lyrico passed.
“I wanted the girls to start fresh and just feel free and safe.”