Minimum of 25 Years in Jail for Earlsfield Murderer
Mother of teenage victim says she hopes his death will inspire change
Fernando Pope
February 11, 2020
A man has been jailed for a minimum of 25 years for stabbing a teenager to death in Earlsfield last year.
21-year-old Fernando Pope, of no fixed address deliberately armed himself with a knife and murdered 18-year-old Cheyon Evans for reasons which remain unclear.
He was found guilty at the Old Bailey following a trial at the same court in January.
Detective Chief Inspector Helen Rance from Specialist Crime, who led the investigation, said: “Fernando Pope set out that night armed to kill and he will now pay the price for his actions.
“While he will spend a considerable period of time in jail, it is not only Pope who will have to serve a life sentence. Cheyon’s family have been left utterly bereft and they will never stop grieving for the loss of their son and brother.
“We are committed to making sure another family does not have to go through the same ordeal. If you know someone carrying a knife or have information about someone involved in criminal activity, please come forward. You do not need to speak to police – you can call independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or by visiting their website.”
Cheyon Evans
The court heard that police were called at 4.42pm on Friday, 14 June 2019 to reports of a stabbing on Deeside Road where they found Cheyon in a critical condition.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, including those from London’s Air Ambulance, he died at the scene a short time later.
A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the chest.
Homicide detectives from Specialist Crime launched an investigation and established that Pope had used a large knife to repeatedly stab Cheyon.
Pope was identified via CCTV from the estate and was arrested on 20 June 2019. He was charged the following day and remanded in custody.
18-year-olds Aymen Mansouri of Montacute Road, Merton and Mohammed Nadir Dafallah of Strathdon Drive, Wandsworth, were found not guilty of murder.
Cheyon’s mother, said: “My heart will forever be broken and I can’t picture a day where I won’t grieve the loss of my son. I have a permanent hole in my heart that can never be filled and will never stop bleeding. My only hope is that Cheyon, like many others that were brutally and horrifically murdered on the streets of London in 2019, will be a name, a story that inspires the government to create change, a better future and better opportunities for the children of yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
Any young people who have information about violence or knife crime, can visit www.fearless.org where they can pass on information anonymously – your I.P address will not be traced. Fearless is part of the Crimestoppers charity, and is also independent of the police.