Girl shot dead had no crime links, court told

A 17-year-old girl who had no involvement in criminality was shot dead with a pistol after hanging out with friends on Easter Monday eight years ago, a court has heard.

Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was fatally shot from a vehicle on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London, on the evening of 2 April 2018.

Marcus La Croix, 38, is standing trial at the Old Bailey in London accused of murdering the teenager. He denies the charge.

Tanesha had spent parts of the bank holiday in the company of her friends, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told jurors on Tuesday.

The group had played a game called "penny up" against a garden wall and were dancing and socialising with one another.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary about this particular evening and none of the group knew of any reason why anyone would wish to harm Tanesha or any of them," the prosecutor said.

At some time after 21:00 BST, Tanesha and her boyfriend were making their way up Chalgrove Road when a car pulled up in front of them just a few feet away.

The court heard one of the windows came down and her partner saw "a hand holding something emerge".

He then saw "three bright sparks" and described hearing a "pap, pap, pap" sound which he had likened to fireworks.

Ledward said the car had only stopped for a few seconds and was then driven off.

After Tanesha was shot, a friend of hers ran down the road "to try and get hold of an adult who could call the police", the court was told.

The teenager's partner had used her phone to call both an ambulance and her family, and neighbours and passers-by came to her aid.

When the ambulance service arrived, the teenager was "barely breathing", the court heard.

Jurors were told medical professionals found the teenager had suffered severe and uncontrollable bleeding from abdominal injuries caused by the bullet.

The prosecutor said it became clear that Tanesha was "beyond any further help" and she was pronounced dead at 22:43.

Ledward told jurors during the trial's opening that the teenager "had no involvement in any kind of criminality".

The court heard the gun that fired the bullet at Tanesha was a self-loading pistol.

La Croix, from Hackney, denies one count of murder and one count of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.

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