A drug dealer who was fatally stabbed on an estate in Milton Keynes left a trail of blood showing his final movements before he collapsed to the ground, a jury heard. Jefferey Wiafe, 22, is alleged to have been attacked by fellow drug dealer, Tyriq Alowooja, assisted by his girlfriend Brooke Turrell.
Mr Wiafe who was known to his customers as “Mitch” “Whit” or “Pepsi” had driven onto the Oxley Park Estate on the afternoon of New Years Eve last year to collect drugs that were being stored for him at a flat in Carradine Crescent, Luton crown court was told. In the dock Mr Alowooja, 20, of Vellan Avenue, Fishermead, Milton Keynes and his girlfriend Miss Turrell also 20, who was living with him at the time, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Wiafe at the start of their trial on Wednesday, July 15, 2020.
Miss Turrell who also lived at Stratford Road in Wolverton, Milton Keynes has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender.
The jury have been told the trial is expected to last at least three weeks. Prosecutor Steven Perian QC told the jury in an outline of the case “Jefferey Kojo Wiafe was born on December 22, 1997.
Nine days after his birthday he was stabbed to death on the Oxley Park Estate. He was from the evidence that you will hear a drug dealer.”
He went on “The crown’s case is that these two defendants are also drug dealers.
“They were jointly involved in the murder of Jefferey Wiafe who was viciously and brutally stabbed.”
The jury was told that Miss Turrell and Mr Alowooja who was known as “T” had met a few months earlier in 2019 and a relationship had developed between them with her moving in with him. Mr Perian said she quit her job and spent her time driving him around.
In early December 2019 she texted a girlfriend, saying “T said he’ll pay £60 a day to be his driver. The prosecutor said the same friend knew Mr Alowooja to be a drug dealer and told police later that some months before the killing there had been “an altercation” between him and Mr Wiafe. Mr Perian said it involved the theft of Mr Wiafe’s “trap phone” which he said was a drugs line phone.
The jury heard the phone contained the contact numbers for users who bought drugs from Mr Wiafe. The prosecutor said although the friend couldn’t say whether it was “T” who had stolen Mr Wiafe’s drugs line phone, all of a sudden Mr Alowooja was “busy dealing.”
It’s alleged by the prosecution that on the afternoon of December 31 last year Mr Wiafe was on the Oxley Park Estate having driven there in a white Vauxhall Astra. He was in the area of the Carradine Crescent block of flats.
Just before 3.30pm a number of residents in the block or nearby heard shouting. On resident, said Mr Perian, had suddenly heard someone shout aggressively “You’re done, you’re f…… done.”
Minutes later he had gone to his window which overlooks Peck Court to see the white Vauxhall with the driver’s door open. He then went to balcony where he could see some of his neighbours carrying out first aid to a man on the ground.
The prosecutor went on “From his vantage point he could see a man lying on the road who was unconscious and there seemed to be quite a lot of blood. His view was that ‘the guy lying on the floor looked dead.” Mr Perian said the resident was able to recognise the man on the ground as someone he’d previously seen doing a drug deal.
The jury heard police arrived on the scene around 10 minutes later to find Mr Wiafe lying in the centre of the road opposite the block of flats on Carradine Crescent with people performing CPR on him.
“Jefferey Wiafe had a large wound to his left-hand chest area which appeared to be a very deep laceration. His clothes were completely soaked with blood,” said the prosecutor.
The stab wound to the chest had caused Mr Wiafe’s death, the jury was told but in addition he had had suffered stab wounds to both his thighs. Mr Perian told the jury it was the Crown’s case that Mr Alowooja had carried out the stabbing.
Following the killing Miss Terrell, he said, had admitted to a friend to driving her co-defendant to the Oxley Park Estate.
“She had witnessed the altercation between the two men, after which Tyriq Alowooja got back into the car with a knife in his hand,” said the prosecutor.
He continued “They drove back to the address in Vellan Avenue where they had been living together. At the address Tyriq Alowooja removed his clothes and placed them along with the knife in a bin bag. She drove him to a lake with the bag containing the items. Tyriq Alowooja admitted to disposing the items in the lake,” said Mr Persian.
The jury was told following the stabbing the pair discussed with others close to them what stories they should tell the police.
“In short how to get away with murder,” said Mr Perian who said Miss Turrell was heard to ask “What car shall I say I was driving.” He told the court.
“The Crown say from the evidence that you will hear during the trial, these two defendants were acting together in the murder of Jefferey Wiafe. Continuing his outline of the case to the jury the prosecutor said told that around the time of the stabbing Mr Wiafe had been on the phone to a friend, Ezra Forde. He said the pair were talking about their plans for the New Years Eve celebrations when around five or six minutes in to the conversation the friend heard Mr Wiafe say “I see Brooklyn Turrell.”
He said the pair stopped taking, but stayed connected. “The next thing Ezra Forde heard was some ruffling. It sounded as if it was Jefferey Wiafe’s jacket. He then heard what he believed to be a car door opening. He heard Jefferey Wiafe say in a panicked voice “Bro I’m done, I’m done, “ said Mr Perian.
He said the phone went dead and when he tried to call Mr Wiafe back it went straight to voicemail. The jury was told that that a forensic scientist with an expertise on the nature and distribution of blood staining examined the scene where Mr Wiafe had been stabbed.
The court heard she found drips of blood on the pavement outside the gate to the rear of the flats. The “drip trail” continued into the road with a few drips on the rear of of the driver’s side of Mr Wiafe’s car.
The prosecutor said “The drip trail continued into Carradine Crescent and onto the steps leading to the front entrance of the flats but not inside.” He said “There were a large number of drips in this area associated with spatters if blood that were generated as a consequence of blood dripping into blood and a few blood stains that had been cast onto a wall next to the steps and into the lower part of the front door to the flats”
Mr Persian said it was the expert’s view that the badly injured Mr Wiafe had left the “drip trail” from the gate at the rear of the flats around to the front of the building and the steps to the entrance.
Case proceeding
