Man who fled to USA jailed for “savage” murder in mistaken gang rivalry attack

A man who fled to the United States of America after murdering a 21-year-old man in a “savage” mistaken gang attack has been jailed for 23 years.

Jahtel Williamson, 26, of no fixed address, is the fifth person to have been convicted of the murder of Dean Pascal-Modeste in February 2017.

Dean, who lived in Barking, had gone to the Chinbrook Estate in Grove Park, Lewisham, to take part in the recording of a music video.

There, two mopeds pulled up and a youth on one of the mopeds pointed a gun and at Dean and his friend who both ran.

As they ran, a group of six youths appeared and started chasing after them.

Dean and his friend ran in different direction and it was Dean who was hunted down and surrounded.

The group of youths crowded around him and stabbed him 14 times.

Dean was left lying on the ground, bleeding to death. Police and medics attended and tried to keep him alive, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Met said the reason for the attack was due to gang rivalry, but Dean was not in a gang.

Dean was interested in music and had met a man who ran a music production company. Dean told people he believed this man would be able to help him make a successful career as a music producer.

But it was his music interest that brought him to the estate that day.

The Met said it was probably the presence of his friends on the estate which caused the rival gang to launch their attack.

Williamson was linked to the murder through phone records of others who carried out the attack, which placed him at the scene, and evidence from members of the public.

A number of knives were recovered from the scene that forensically linked some of the suspects to the murder, as well as CCTV that placed the group together and police could prove Williamson was part of the gang who carried out the attack.

After the stabbing, Williamson had flown out of Gatwick Airport on February 28, 2017 to Iceland and he then went on to Baltimore, USA.

In 2018, the UK Government made a request to the U.S. Department of State for the extradition of Williamson. The following year, Williamson was traced to an address in Durham, North Carolina.

On March 4, 2021, he was arrested and remanded in custody in North Carolina.

Williamson had been extradited from Washington DC on May 1, 2022, and was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.

Pictured top: left, Jahtel Williamson and victim Dean Pascal-Modeste (Picture: The Met)