A 16-year-old boy from Romford, east London, faces murder charges after the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Eghosa Ogbebor in a Woolwich stairwell. Police responded to emergency calls at 3:40 p.m. on April 2, finding the victim lifeless on Lord Warwick Street near Woolwich Dockyard station.
Court Proceedings
The teenager appeared via video link from HMP Feltham at the Old Bailey on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege he chased and shot Ogbebor once in the chest at the top of the stairwell. William Emlyn Jones KC, prosecuting, stated: ‘It was there at the top of the stairwell that the defendant aimed and fired at the victim, shooting him once in the chest, causing an injury from which he died.’
The victim carried a weapon during the incident. Authorities first arrested the suspect on April 4, released him on bail, then re-arrested him on April 9 and charged him with murder the next day. The court set a provisional trial date of January 18, 2027, and remanded him to youth detention. His next hearing for plea and trial preparation is July 3.
Ongoing Investigation
Metropolitan Police continue their probe. Officers arrested a 19-year-old man and a 46-year-old man in Woolwich on suspicion of murder and assisting an offender, respectively, along with two boys aged 14 and 16, and an 18-year-old man—all released on bail. Another 16-year-old faces murder suspicion after an April 10 arrest.
Victim’s Life and Community Response
Family and friends left tributes at the scene, describing the loss as ‘just awful,’ especially during Easter. Ogbebor, an aspiring rapper known as ‘Y.Risky,’ had shared school-recorded song snippets.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, called the killing ‘appalling’ and extended thoughts to the Woolwich community: ‘There is absolutely no place for this heartbreaking violence.’
At the family’s Abbey Wood home, Ogbebor’s aunt revealed he had told his mother he was filming a rap video with friends that day. She said: ‘He loved music, he was so talented and lived for it… His mother is broken. He was so young, just a boy.’
