Officers have overcome a “wall of silence” to secure convictions for murder, manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.
Despite the fear they brought to the local community, officers from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command were able to bring those responsible for the death of 25-year-old Devon Jensen-Wallace to justice.
On Tuesday, 25 July at the Old Bailey, two brothers and their father were convicted of their roles in Devon’s death:
[A] Jamal Grant, 31, (19.03.92) of Pitfield Way, NW10, was convicted of murder and perverting the course of justice.
[B] Lamar Grant, 26 (03.07.97) of Pitfield Way, NW10 was convicted of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.
[C] Elvis Grant, 51 (21.10.71) of Pitfield Way, NW10 was convicted of murder and perverting the course of justice.
All three will be sentenced on Tuesday, 8 August.
Detective Chief Inspector Joe Garrity, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “These defendants are suspected of being linked to a gang associated with serious violence. My team were faced with a wall of silence, even Devon’s friends would not speak to officers. However, seeing the fear these people created only made us more determined to bring them to justice.
“My team did hours of reconstruction, phone work, CCTV enquiries, searches of premises and forensic enquiries. My officers, led by Detective Sergeant Devan Taylor, meticulously pieced together the various strands of information so we could identify those responsible for Devon’s death. As a result of that work we were able to present a strong case and bring his killers to justice.”
The court heard how on 1 June 2022 at about 18:00hrs Devon Jensen-Wallace had gone to the St Raphael’s Estate in NW10.
He met with two of his friends and they walked around the estate and visited local shops.
They were near Overton Close when two or three men crept up on them from a bin area.
One of the men had a machete type knife and another was armed with a baseball bat.
They confronted Devon and his friends, who all ran, but as they were being chased he was stabbed in the leg.
The defendants chased after the friends and one could be heard to shout something like ‘You can’t get away with this’ ‘You can’t run away’
Cameras recorded the pursuit with one attacker holding the large knife and another shouting encouragement to ‘get him’.
Devon ran onto Henderson Close and it was here he was found at about 18:30hrs, bleeding heavily from a wound to his right leg.
Officers were called along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service, but despite their efforts to save him, he was sadly pronounced dead at 19:15hrs.
A post-mortem examination conducted on 3 June gave the cause of death as a single wound to the leg that had cut the femoral vein – the subsequent blood loss had proved fatal.
At the scene it was clear that there were gang members present and these gang members spread fear through the local community.
Neither of Devon’s friends, who were with him when he was attacked, would cooperate with the investigation.
Members of the public would speak to officers privately, but repeatedly stated they were afraid of repercussions if they spoke openly.
A murder investigation was launched and it quickly focused on the Grant home, as Jamal Grant had previously been assaulted and may have blamed Devon Jensen-Wallace.
Detectives had begun an investigation and they executed a search warrant at the Grant’s home.
At the home a black baseball bat was found in the kitchen and testing showed a fingerprint from Lamar Grant and blood from Devon Jensen-Wallace.
Faced with residents who were in fear of reprisals if they spoke to police, the investigation had to work hard to secure evidence.
Officers carried out a reconstruction, examined hours of CCTV and forensically investigated phone records.
All this work helped secure the evidence against the Grants.
Lastly officers had to deal with people who were in genuine fear of reprisals and in some cases, had to accept that some were simply too afraid to help.
However, things they were told in confidence were respected and detectives worked hard to give support to those brave enough to talk to them.
As a result of the investigation Lamar and Jamal Grant were arrested between Saturday, 5 and Wednesday, 8 June 2022 and Elvis Grant was arrested in February 2023.
All three denied any involvement, but all three were charged with murder.
