Man guilty of killing teen yards from his home

Eddie Kinuthia, 19, died after being stabbed near his home in July 2023

A man has been found guilty of murdering a teenager in an attack just yards from his home.

Eddie Kinuthia, 19, died in hospital after being ambushed and stabbed multiple times in the Grosvenor Road area of St Pauls, Bristol, in July 2023, with a leg wound proving fatal.

A jury found Zacharia Talbert-Young, 27, guilty of his murder at Bristol Crown Court earlier. He will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Paul Hayden, who was also accused of Mr Kinuthia's murder, was cleared part-way through the trial when the judge found there was not enough evidence to connect the 22-year-old to the incident.

Talbert-Young and Hayden were also on trial for the attempted murder of 19-year-old Nathan Williams, who was stabbed in Lawrence Hill in February 2024 - seven months after Mr Kinuthia's death.

The jury found them both guilty of attempted murder.

Talbert-Young was described as a "very dangerous individual"

A third man, Remi Hitchcock, 30, of Easton, was charged with assisting an offender in relation to the death of Mr Kinuthia, but was found not guilty.

Mr Kinuthia's family, who had been in court throughout the trial, let out cries of relief when the verdicts were read out.

His mother was heard thanking and making a heart gesture towards the jury with her hands, with police in court also visibly moved by the reaction.

Paul Hayden was found guilty of attempting to murder Nathan Williams in the same trial

During the trial the jury were told 150 people had been attending a community event in St Pauls on 21 July. Two masked men, one of which was Talbert-Young, dressed in black arrived on an electric bike and Mr Kinuthia was stabbed.

Mr Kinuthia was stabbed as many as six times, the trial was told, and it was a wound to his leg that proved to be fatal.

Talbert-Young never revealed his motive for killing Mr Kinuthia, but the trial heard of a longstanding rivalry between the 1-6s and the 2-4s.

Talbert-Young was closely associated with east Bristol's 1-6 group while Mr Kinuthia was regularly seen associating with members of the 2-4s, which is linked to St Pauls.

"Over the years there's been rivalries and retaliation attacks between groups of young men on the east side of Bristol and similar groups more focused around St Pauls," Det Ch Insp Mark Almond, from Avon and Somerset Police, explained.

He described Mr Kinuthia as a "popular young man" who knew a lot of people in St Pauls.

"He did have friends who were involved in some of that sort of cohort rivalry in the area," he added.

Det Ch Insp Almond said there were "no winners" in this case.

"Eddie Kinuthia has lost his life," he said. "That has absolutely traumatised his family, a number of his friends, people in the community."

After his death, Mr Kinuthia's family said he was "a pure soul" with "the biggest of hearts".

"His love was widespread and appreciated by so many people who had ever met him. He had a great presence and the brightest of smiles," they added.

Eddie Kinuthia pictured with his mum Irene

Det Ch Insp Almond said Mr Kinuthia was well-liked and well-known in the community.

But despite his popularity and a large number of potential witnesses, no-one was charged in relation to Mr Kinuthia's death until 18 months after the killing.

Police said they reviewed hours of CCTV, but came up against an apparent "code of silence" around the attack.

"We in the police have worked really hard at trying to build trust and confidence in the community, particularly around St Pauls," Det Ch Insp Almond said.

"Whilst not everybody has wanted to speak to the police, there have been several examples of people coming forward, showing courage, stepping outside their comfort zone and what they would normally do and actually speaking to the police to help get justice for Eddie.

"So while it has been challenging, I want to thank those people who have had the courage to come forward."

He described Talbert-Young as a "very dangerous individual" who never gave an explanation for his actions.

"He is somebody who has access to weapons and is clearly prepared to use weapons, so I think it's clear for everyone to see that Zacharia Talbert-Young is a dangerous man."