A man and a teenager have been convicted of murder after detectives used CCTV footage to track down their escape routes home.
Nah’shun Thomas, 20, of Bournemouth Road in Peckham, and a 17-year-old who cannot be identified because of his age were convicted on Friday January 5 of murdering Kalabe Legesse in Peckham Rye.
The pair were remanded in custody to appear at the same court for sentencing on Friday April 19.
Investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Guttridge said: “The defendants were riding around the area, armed with a knife that they were prepared to use to commit violent offences.
“With crime comes accountability and consequences. For cruelly and needlessly ending Kalabe Legesse's life, they will have years ahead of them in prison to reflect on their actions and the lives they have destroyed."
They attacked the 29-year-old at around 8pm on December 30 while he was talking on his phone while sitting on a bench at Peckham Rye Park.
During the robbery Mr Legesse was fatally stabbed once in the chest and left to collapse on the bench where he died.
As part of their investigation, detectives trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV and by retracing the suspects' movements were able to identify their home addresses and both were arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday January 19 2023.
Police found the defendants committed two other mobile phone robberies shortly before Mr Legesse’s murder.
Both victims of those robberies reported the defendants had intimated they had a knife and said “Where are you from?’ and ‘What have you got on you?” - comments overheard during the attack on Mr Legesse.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to both of those robberies and officers searching the home address of the 17-year-old found a black handled hunting knife with traces of Kalabe Legesse’s blood inside the sheath.
DI Guttridge added: “My thoughts today are with Kalabe Legesse’s family as they continue to come to terms with their loss. It is my sincere wish that they find some comfort in knowing that justice has been served.”
A spokesperson for Mr Legesse's family said: "Nothing can bring back our son Kalabe.
“He was doing nothing wrong on the night that he was killed and we will never understand why he was murdered over a mobile phone. The defendants have not shown any remorse for what they did to him. We have recently passed the anniversary of his death; Christmas and New Year for us will never be the same again.
“Kalabe was loved by everyone he met and had an exciting future ahead of him. He will never be able to have a family of his own, and our family will never have him back.
“We are grateful to the investigation team for their hard work for over a year to bring these people to justice."
