Two teenage drill rappers, including a Nigerian, have been found guilty of murdering an 18-year-old in Enfield, north London, following a gang dispute that began on social media.
On June 26, 2025, 18-year-old Emmanuel Popoola shot Keanu Harker, 18, in the head and chest after chasing him on the back of a high-powered electric bike ridden by his co-defendant, Tayvon Etefia, also 18.
On Monday, July 6, 2026, Popoola and Etefia, both from Enfield, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of murder and possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life. They are due to be sentenced later this week.
Following the verdict, Harker’s family said they hoped the killing would “open people’s eyes to how damaging gang culture has become for young people.”
The court heard that the killing stemmed from a rivalry between two Enfield gangs — the 3×3 gang and the Get Money Gang (GMG).
Prosecutor Louise Oakley KC told jurors that Harker’s murder followed an argument on Snapchat in which comments were made suggesting that Popoola did not have enough money to buy mobile data.
The court also heard that gang members later boasted about the killing in drill rap videos.
Oakley said the defendants caught up with Harker, who was also riding a bicycle, before Popoola fired three shots at him from close range.
“Keanu Harker immediately fell off his bicycle onto the road. He was fatally injured but somehow managed to crawl a short distance into the front garden of a residential address just off Great Cambridge Road.
“Emmanuel Popoola and Tayvon did not stop. They continued to make good their escape,” the prosecutor told the court.
After the shooting, the pair fled the scene, abandoned the electric bike, and discarded their clothing, jurors heard.
They were later picked up in a car driven by fellow drill rapper Eliezer Mbaki, 25, while a 17-year-old youth recovered the abandoned e-bike.
The court heard that Popoola and Etefia then attempted to flee to France by train.
Within days of the shooting, Popoola boarded a one-way Eurostar train from London St Pancras to Paris with the help of his girlfriend, Anais King, 19.
Etefia booked his own ticket but was tracked by police, who boarded the train and arrested him just two minutes before it was due to depart.
After Popoola arrived in Paris, investigators turned their attention to King, who was planning to join him.
Detectives monitored her journey to the French capital, where French police followed her to Popoola’s apartment and arrested him.
Popoola was later extradited to the UK from France, while King was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
During the trial, Popoola denied any involvement in the shooting.
After a week of deliberations, jurors also convicted Mbaki, from Tottenham; King, from Enfield; and the 17-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, of perverting the course of justice.
In a statement following the verdicts, Harker’s family said: “We have been left with a lifetime of pain and loss that can never be undone.
“We hope this case opens people’s eyes to how damaging gang culture has become for young people.
“Too many children are losing their lives, and too many families are being left to suffer unimaginable heartbreak.
“Something must change before more young lives are taken and more parents are forced to endure the pain that we now live with every day.”
Detective Chief Inspector Lucie Card, who led the months-long investigation, said: “Our painstaking investigation established that Keanu was murdered because his killers took offence to something that was said in a social media group chat.
“Rather than ignore the comments, Emmanuel Popoola armed himself with a pistol and, with the help of Tayvon Etefia, carried out a drive-by shooting.
“This was cowardly and disproportionate violence that has understandably shocked the community.”
Popoola and Etefia are scheduled to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday and Friday, while the remaining defendants will be sentenced at a later date.
