Mother appeals for help in finding Daniel Duke’s killer 11 years after the Kennington murder – and £20,000 reward is offered

A 22-year-old murder victim’s mother, still in mental torment, is appealing for help in finding the people who killed her son in Kennington, so she can find some peace.

A new £20,000 reward is being offered for information about the murder of 22-year-old Daniel Duke, who was shot three times in the back 11 years ago.

Daniel was shot three times on Alberta Street in Kennington, at around 6.45pm on Monday, 2 November 2009.

Despite his injuries, Daniel managed to call 999 and tell the operator he had been shot. He staggered a short distance and banged on the front door of a nearby house before collapsing. He died in hospital early the following morning.

The murder remains unsolved, and is being investigated by the Met’s Specialist Casework Team, part of Central Specialist Crime.

Speaking on the anniversary of Daniel’s death, Daniel’s mother, Khadija Samuels, said: “Our nightmare began when we arrived at the hospital on the evening of November 2, 2009 and the early hours of November 3, being told by the doctors they could not save Daniel.

“It is 11 years since we lost Daniel. During these 11 years I have lost friends and family because they did not recognise my grief.

“Coping with Daniel’s death meant changing my name, undergoing operable cancer surgery, ageing quickly and my body failing me. Living a double life, people who know me now and those who knew me prior to the murder.

“I have tried to be strong for our family, my boys and friends but I’m crying on the inside. Daniel was kind, always thoughtful and loyal and he had an extremely close bond with his siblings. Sadly we could not save him from his killers.

“My memories of anything happy or significant have totally disappeared. My memory has gone and I write everything down – something as simple as my last birthday, my age or important dates I struggle to remember.

“I remember Daniel as a baby and his first day at school but his adolescent years are a blur.

“Tiredness from lack of sleep is normal and it now explains to me, 11 years on, why bereaved parents always look so tired.

“Daniel was loved so much. Seeing him during identification behind the glass screen, he looked very different and this was my first experience of seeing someone who had died. My son was not coming back home.

“I saw Daniel again five weeks after he was killed before the funeral. His colour, his hands and feet had changed. I asked the funeral home to dress him in the clothes that we chose for him.

“In grief you do not have control of your thoughts, sounds and visions. During the investigation you have no control.

“I wanted to solve the case and wrote everything down that happened from the day Daniel was shot. There were six of us around the bed after Daniel was operated on and I remember saying ‘can you see his eyes moving?’ The room was quiet so we prayed for him.

“For weeks, my phone rang – it was the police, friends and family night and day. No one had the answer to my question ‘why?’

“I do not believe this is the end. I don’t have religious faith but hope one day someone will come forward, a mother, sister, brother or even the killers.

“There are new detectives reviewing the case and they need your help. Can you remember back 11 years ago on November 2, 2009? Even if it is small, something you know, everything is significant.

“Our family has never been the same. We have been through this trauma together, the pain together and will be together when the killers are caught and prosecuted for this crime.

“Please help us to find and convict Daniels killers.”

A £20,000 reward is now being offered to anyone who provides information which leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person or people involved in Daniel’s murder.

Mr Duke that night told his girlfriend he was going to meet somebody. He arranged to meet a customer at Kennington Tube at 6.30pm and took him around the corner into Alberta Street. He was carrying 12 bags of cannabis and £235 in cash.

His killers fled the scene in a Ford Mondeo, which was set on fire in north Peckham later that night to destroy forensic evidence.

Detective Sergeant Susan Stansfield, who leads the investigation, said: “It is now 11 years since Daniel was brutally murdered but we remain committed as ever to finding his killer. His untimely death has left his family utterly devastated and with no answers about who shot Daniel and why, their grieving and sense of loss remains.”

As part of this appeal, detectives are also re-releasing CCTV stills of two men who officers believed could be potentially significant witnesses that they want to identify and speak to as part of the inquiry.

The CCTV stills were taken from a petrol station on Camberwell Road, within a few hours of the murder – close to where a silver Ford Mondeo which sped away immediately after the shooting was later found burnt out.

DS Stansfield added: “If you recognise who is in these pictures or that is you, we would strongly urge you to come forward – these people may have crucial information which could assist the investigation.

“I want to appeal directly to anyone who saw what happened to Daniel, or who has since heard or been told what happened. We would urge those people to do the right thing – you may feel some sense of loyalty to cover for those responsible, but you are protecting a killer. If you feel intimidated about the prospect of speaking to police, there are ways you can give information anonymously and in total confidence.”

To provide information, please call 101 quoting Operation Traxler. To give information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Your call or communications will never be traced, and you will not be asked for your name.

+ Two men, both aged 21, were found not guilty of Daniel’s murder in November 2010 after a trial at the Old Bailey. Also in November 2010, an 18-year-old man was convicted of possession of a firearm  – the gun used to kill Daniel – and ammunition, and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in custody.

Akinyemi Aiyeola, 18 on his conviction in November 2010,  of Westmoreland Road, Walworth, hid the weapon and ammunition in his bedroom.