Woman killed in crossfire at London wake, police trace suspect car
A wake for 80-year-old Dianne Boatong turned violent when gunfire killed Michelle Sadio, 44, and left two other men with devastating injuries.
Michelle Sadio was among about 100 mourners gathered outside the River of Life Pentecostal Church in Willesden, north London, when the evening wake for 80-year-old Dianne Boatong was shattered by gunfire. At about 9pm on 14 December 2024, a black Kia pulled up on Gifford Road, NW10, and at least four shots were fired into the crowd. Sadio, 44, a mother of two young children and a legal administrator, was hit and died at the scene.
The shooting tore through a space that had been meant for remembrance, not panic. Children as young as five were among the mourners when the attack unfolded. Two other innocent men were also struck. Kenneth Amoah, 39, a Transport for London contractor, was shot in the back and left paralysed below the waist. Kadeem Francis, 32, who is self-employed, was shot in the foot. Police said one of the wounded men continues to live with life-changing effects from the attack.
Investigators said the intended target was the rapper known as Trapstar Toxic, whose real name is Adetokunbo Ajibola, 33. The Metropolitan Police said the shooting was linked to a dispute between two gangs in north west London, a conflict that turned a wake into a scene of terror and left a family mourning in the middle of a public killing. The attack exposed how quickly violence can spill into ordinary community spaces, placing bystanders, children and grieving relatives in the line of fire.
The getaway car, a stolen black Kia Niro with false number plates, was found burnt out the following day on a recreation ground in the Chalkhill Estate, HA9. Police said no firearm was recovered and there were no eyewitnesses who could identify the occupants. But investigators pieced together the case through digital forensics, hundreds of hours of CCTV, telephone data, and ULEZ and ANPR camera evidence. Forensic specialists also recovered DNA from a petrol can left beside the burnt-out car.
Perry Allen-Thomas, 27, and Amir Salem, 20, both of Wembley, were found guilty at the Old Bailey on 21 April 2026 of murdering Sadio and attempting to murder the two injured men. On 20 May 2026, both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Allen-Thomas received a minimum term of 38 years, while Salem received a minimum term of 26 years, bringing a legal reckoning to a crime that left one woman dead, two men injured and a congregation forever marked by the moment gunfire reached into mourning.
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