A rapper from Penge slaughtered a 17-year-old in a park then was still at large when he murdered another boy a year later. 

Nyron Jean Baptiste, of Queen Adelaide Road, was 16 when he and five others killed Michael Jonas, 17, in Petts Park in November 2017. 

Exactly a year later he was still at large when he killed 15-year-old Jay Hughes with a machete outside a chicken shop in Bellingham and yelled “I got one”. 

In August 2019 Baptiste was sentenced to life imprisonment and told he must serve a minimum term of 19 years for Jay’s murder. 

News Shopper: Kind-hearted Jay HughesKind-hearted Jay Hughes (Image: Met Police)The Judge stated that she was in no doubt that the “brazen, quick and ruthless attack” was planned and that Nyron had intended to kill the victim. 

The court heard how Jay was speaking with a young man he knew when a black Ford Galaxy pulled up to the junction of Brookhowse Road with Randlesdown Road. 

Three men, armed with large machete type knives, got out of the car and ran towards Jay and his acquaintance. 

However Jay did not run and CCTV showed him innocently waiting outside the shop. 

It was at this point that the defendant approached Jay and proceeded to stab him once in the left hand side of his upper body. 

A witness later told police they heard the person who stabbed Jay say, "I got one" and that Jay did not say or do anything to provoke the attack. 

After stabbing Jay, the boys ran back towards their getaway vehicle. 

Today (February 5, 2024) Baptiste will sentenced alongside five other men for Michael Jonas death. 

News Shopper: Michael JonasMichael Jonas (Image: Met Police)The case has taken over six years to get to the point of sentencing.

All six defendants were arrested the month after the murder. 

But the following year the case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).  

In October 2022, CPS agreed to reinstate the original charges and the men were remanded until trial. 

Six men were then found guilty of Michael’s murder: 

• Nyron Jean Baptiste, 22, of Queen Adelaide Road, Penge 

• Divon Henry-Campbell, 23, of Fayland Avenue, Streatham 

• Jason Smith, 20, of Bow Avenue Lane, Dartford 

• Jamie Marshall, 22, of Burham Close, Penge 

• Ryan Girense Brown, 21, of Sydenham Road, Croydon 

• Sarraviho Smith, 23, of Grove Hill Road, Camberwell