‘Heartless’ killers jailed for murdering rapper

Crosslon Davis, 20, known as Bis, suffered at least nine wounds to his head, back and chest when he was set upon by four youths armed with knives or machetes.

Most of the attack in Deptford, south-east London, early on December 6 2019 was caught on shocking CCTV footage.

Mr Davis had been a “highly regarded” drill artist and member of the Harlem Spartan collective based in Kennington, south London.

He had been shooting a video for his latest track the day before he was attacked, the Old Bailey heard.

Elijah Morgan, 20, and Jedaiah Param, 21, were found guilty of murder and having a blade following a trial.

The defendants were on licence at the time of the killing, having both been convicted of knife-related offences.

On Monday, the pair were each jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years.

Judge Angela Rafferty QC said it was a “sustained and vicious attack”.

She said: “This was a savage murder of a defenceless man. He was hacked to death.

“It is clear he had been shown no mercy whatsoever and he died in the street despite extensive efforts of emergency services to save his life.”

She added that it was a “heartless and merciless crime”.

The judge said Param and Morgan both had “appalling” records for violence and possession of weapons which was a “very significant” aggravating factor.

Earlier, the victim’s mother Vivienne Davis tearfully paid tribute to her son, who had been rapping since he was aged two and was about to start university.

She told the court: “He was intelligent and had the whole world in front of him, such a bright future cruelly cut short.

On his killers, she said: “These cowards pleading not guilty and causing us to have to go through this horrifically detailed trial on how they brutally and callously murdered my baby, refusing to acknowledge guilt or responsibility for their heinous crime, speaks for itself.

“They have made me watch my son being killed around 15 times on the CCTV footage which was shown to the court.”

She added: “The last time I held my baby was December 5 2019.

“We hugged and said: ‘I love you’, as we usually do when he leaves, but this time I said: ‘Break a leg’ for luck, as I would normally do when he is performing or going to shoot a video.”

That day, Mr Davis had filmed in Kennington and Cambridge, accompanied by friends, including Elhaj Diarrassouba, aka Els, the court had heard.

On the journey back to London, Mr Davis appeared to become “angry” with someone on the phone.

The court heard he had got the impression the caller was being “disrespectful” about Latz, real name Latwaan Griffiths, a fellow Harlem Spartan who had been stabbed to death in July 2018.

Mr Diarrassouba suggested they meet the caller to sort it out and they arrived in the Deptford Creek area at around 1.15am.

The defendants had just got into a cab in Deptford when Mr Davis, armed with a mallet, opened the rear door and tried to attack Morgan, the court heard.

The cab sped off but the driver was told to stop and the occupants got out and ran back, the court heard.

Mr Davis dropped the mallet and was set upon by the defendants and two other unidentified assailants.

Just 11 days after the murder and while on the run, Morgan was involved in another street stabbing in Nuneaton.

He admitted violent disorder, threatening with a blade, possessing cannabis and two charges of assaulting police officers.

Param also admitted separate offences relating to an attack on a man with a Lucozade bottle containing ammonia at a probation office in May 2019.

The sentences for those offences were ordered to run concurrently.

Param, of Norwood, south London, and Morgan, of no fixed address, had each denied murder.