Drill Rapper Faces Life in Jail After Bragging About Murder in Song Lyrics

Undated mugshots of Kammar Henry-Richards (L) - a drill rapper better known as Kay-O - and Jeffrey Gyimah (R) - a drill artist known as Hitman, who were convicted of murder at the Old Bailey in London on Dec. 12, 2023. Metropolitan Police

A popular drill rapper is facing life in jail after being convicted of murder following a trial which heard he made a song a few weeks later which contained incriminating evidence about a gun used in the killing which even the police did not know at the time.

Kammar Henry-Richards performed under the name Kay-O and one of his most popular songs was Laughing Stock, which featured other rappers Smokes, Billy Billions, DA and Unknown T.

On Thursday, a jury at the Old Bailey delivered the last of its verdicts in the trial of five men for the murder of Kacey Boothe, 25, a member of the London Fields gang who was shot dead outside a community centre in east London where a child’s first birthday party was being held on Aug. 13, 2022.

Henry-Richards, 24, Ka-Amni Brightly-Donaldson, 22, Jeffrey Gyimah, 20, and Joao Pateco-Te, 26, were all convicted of murder and conspiracy to murder and Henry-Richards, Brightly-Donaldson and Gyimah were also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm.

All four—who were members of a gang from Homerton called the E9ers, which is associated with the drill group 98s—will be sentenced in the New Year and face mandatory life sentences.

The drive-by shooting took place near Peterhouse Community Centre in Walthamstow, where a children’s party was taking place. The actual target was Khalid Samanter, a London Fields gang member whose child was having the party, but the gang killed Mr. Boothe when they spotted him arriving outside.

Murderous Drill Artist Blames ‘Authenticity’

Gyimah—who was also a drill artist who performed under the name of Hitman—provided a prepared statement to the police after his arrest in which he said: “I feel it is important to note that I am a musician and writer. I have a recording contract. Drill is the genre of music in which I preform and authenticity and image is important.”

“As such there is more interest for an artist if they are affiliated to a street gang as it is a way to promote credibility and increasing views on music platforms such as YouTube. It is for this reason that I am affiliated to Holly Street, the 9ers and 98s. I am not involved in ”diss tracks“ relating to these offences,” he added.

Undated mugshots of Ka-Amni Brightly-Donaldson (L) and Joao Pateco-Te (R) who were convicted of murder at the Old Bailey in London on Dec. 12, 2023. Metropolitan Police

The use of drill lyrics in prosecutions has been controversial with several articles in The Guardian and elsewhere saying the Crown Prosecution Service is unfairly targeting young black men by using drill lyrics in prosecutions.

The CPS denies any prosecutions are based solely on drill lyrics and in the Kacey Boothe case there was a wealth of forensic, CCTV and mobile phone evidence which led to the verdicts.

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard, KC, told the trial the lyrics of Laughing Stock showed the gun used to kill Mr. Boothe had also been used to shoot and injure his older brother, Kyle.

In the song Kay-O rapped: “Big ... Boothe and Little ... got hit, same Sig, that’s a sour family. Both got slapped at functions, neck and head, handguns come handy.”

German Handgun Clue

A SIG Sauer is a German brand of handgun.

Mr. Orchard said: “In other words, a boast was being made that the same ‘Sig’ (gun) had been used to shoot both Kacey Boothe and his elder brother, Kyle Boothe. This fact was known only to those involved in the shootings and not to the police at that time.”

An undated image of Kacey Boothe, who was shot dead in Walthamstow, north east London, on Aug. 13, 2022. Metropolitan Police

In one version the lyrics said: “Big, big bro got (profanity), little bro got (profanity) but I guess little bro couldn’t firm it.”

It went on: “He got slapped on the front seat, dropped out on the backseat, think Donny tried swervin'.”

The prosecutor told the jury the song was remixed at least twice and he read out excerpts of the lyrics from a remix that was produced on Sept. 22, 2022.

In it, Kay-O sang: “Big Boothe shoulda lurked, got his neck back ripped. Lil’ (profanity) got burst, shoulda bin with his... [inaudible].”

The jury were not told that Pateco-Te’s brother, Bruno, was jailed for life in 2019 for the murder in London Fields of Kaan Aslan, who was stabbed to death in revenge for a gang attack on Joao three months earlier.

The jury in the Kacey Boothe trial was unable to reach a verdict on Brightly-Donaldson’s half-brother Kadeem Brightly-Barnes, 30, who faces a retrial on charges of murder and conspiracy to murder next year.