Murder of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare
Murder of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare | |
---|---|
Location | Birchfield Road, Aston, Birmingham |
Date | January 2, 2003 |
Attack type | drive-by shooting |
Weapons | MAC-10 machine pistol |
Deaths | 2 |
Injured | 2 |
Perpetrator | Marcus Ellis, Michael Gregory, Nathan Martin, Rodrigo Simms |
Motive | Revenge for the murder of Yohanne Martin |
Two teenage girls, Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, were shot with a MAC-10 machine pistol, outside a hair salon in Birchfield Road, Aston, Birmingham, England, as they were leaving a party in the early hours of 2 January 2003, in a gang-related drive-by shooting.[1][2] Shakespeare and Ellis were described as "best friends" and "innocent victims".[3]
Charlene's twin sister Sophie, cousin Cheryl Shaw and a friend, Leon Harris, were also injured. Shaw was shot in the hand.[3]
The shooting, investigated by the
Four men were each convicted of murder and attempted murder at
The mothers of the two dead women, Marcia Shakespeare and Beverley Thomas, have since actively campaigned against gun crime and gangs.[3] They set up the 'Letisha and Charlene Education Awards', administered by the Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation, a registered charity,[6] in 2006.[4] In December 2016 it was announced that Marcia Shakespeare had been appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours.[7]
In 2018, Libera, an Italian association that promotes outreach activities and various types of protest action against organised crime, remembered Letisha and Charlene among other nearly 900 names of innocent victims of organised crime during the 23rd Day of Remembrance and Commitment.[8]
References
- ^ "January 2003 interview re deaths of two black girls in Aston on BBC". Breakfast with Frost. BBC. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
- ^ "Thrown in at the deep end". West Midlands Police. 21 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ a b c Wilson, Peter (2 January 2013). "BBC News – Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis shootings: 10 years on". BBC Online. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g McCarthy, Nick (January 2013). "New Year shootings: Letisha Shakespeare's mother reveals her living nightmare". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Four jailed for New Year killings". BBC Online. 21 March 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation, registered charity no. 1048162". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ^ "New Year Honours: Marcia Shakespeare and Karen Ross recognised". BBC Online. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ "Nomi da non dimenticare". 21 March 2018.
External links
- Letisha and Charlene Education Awards
- Thrown in at the deep end Archived 8 August 2014 at the Family Liaison Officer in the case, by the West Midlands Police