Solved case · 2003
Also known as Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis's murder · Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis's killing
The short answer
Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, were shot dead in a gang-related drive-by shooting outside a hair salon in Aston, Birmingham, in the early hours of 2 January 2003. Four men were convicted of murder and attempted murder in March 2005.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for this caseCharlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, described as "best friends," were shot with a MAC-10 machine pistol outside a hair salon on Birchfield Road in Aston, Birmingham, England, as they left a New Year's party in the early hours of 2 January 2003. Both women died as a result of the shooting and were described as "innocent victims." Charlene's twin sister Sophie, her cousin Cheryl Shaw, and a friend, Leon Harris, were also injured in the attack; Shaw was shot in the hand.
The shooting was investigated by West Midlands Police under its then-new Chief Constable, Paul Scott-Lee. Investigators determined the attack was connected to a feud between two Birmingham gangs, the "Johnson Crew" and the "Burger Bar Boys," and was carried out in response to the earlier murder of Yohanne Martin, an associate of the Burger Bar Boys.
In March 2005, four men were convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court. Marcus Ellis, 24 — Charlene Ellis's half-brother — Michael Gregory, 22, and Nathan Martin, 26 — the brother of Yohanne Martin — were each sentenced to a minimum of 35 years' imprisonment. Rodrigo Simms, 20, received a 27-year sentence, a lesser term attributed to his age at the time of the shooting. The trial was notable as the first in England at which secret (anonymous) witnesses were permitted to give evidence.
The convicted men appealed in 2005 at Woolwich Crown Court, but the appeal was rejected, and they were subsequently refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords. In 2012, Marcus Ellis, Nathan Martin, and Rodrigo Simms brought a further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that they had not received a fair trial due to the use of anonymous witnesses. This appeal was also dismissed.
In the years following the killings, the victims' mothers — Marcia Shakespeare and Beverley Thomas — became active campaigners against gun crime and gang violence. In 2006, they established the 'Letisha and Charlene Education Awards,' administered by the Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation, a registered charity. In December 2016, it was announced that Marcia Shakespeare would be appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours in recognition of her campaigning work.
In 2018, the Italian anti-organised-crime association Libera included the names of Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis, alongside those of nearly 900 other victims, during its 23rd Day of Remembrance and Commitment for innocent victims of organised crime.
Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare are shot outside a hair salon on Birchfield Road, Aston, Birmingham, in a gang-related drive-by shooting; three others are injured.
Four men are convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court.
Convicted men appeal at Woolwich Crown Court; appeal is dismissed and leave to appeal to the House of Lords is refused.
Marcia Shakespeare and Beverley Thomas establish the 'Letisha and Charlene Education Awards.'
Marcus Ellis, Nathan Martin, and Rodrigo Simms appeal to the European Court of Human Rights; the appeal is dismissed.
It is announced that Marcia Shakespeare will be appointed MBE in the 2017 New Year Honours.
Libera includes Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis among nearly 900 names remembered during its 23rd Day of Remembrance and Commitment.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
18-year-old shot and killed outside a hair salon on 2 January 2003[3]
Cousin of Charlene Ellis, shot in the hand during the attack[3]
Friend of the victims, injured in the shooting[3]
17-year-old shot and killed outside a hair salon on 2 January 2003[3]
Charlene Ellis's twin sister, injured in the shooting[3]
Convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court in March 2005; sentenced to a minimum of 35 years; Charlene Ellis's half-brother[3]
Convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court in March 2005; sentenced to a minimum of 35 years[3]
Convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court in March 2005; sentenced to a minimum of 35 years; brother of Yohanne Martin[3]
Convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court in March 2005; sentenced to 27 years due to his age at the time of the shooting[3]
Chief Constable of West Midlands Police who oversaw the investigation[3]
From the record
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
UNSOLVEDListenGreat Barr, Birmingham, England · 1970s
Eight-year-old Helen Bailey was found dead in Great Barr, Birmingham, in August 1975 with a throat wound; originally ruled an open/accidental death, the verdict was overturned in 2019 and replaced with unlawful killing after a cold case review found evidence of strangulation. The case officially remains unsolved.
SOLVEDListen196 Lee Bank Road (now Lee Bank Middleway), Edgbaston, Birmingham, England · 1960s
Thomas Bates, a 46-year-old Birmingham newsagent, was shot dead during an armed robbery of his shop on 2 June 1962. Oswald Grey was convicted of the murder and hanged in November 1962, though he maintained his innocence and questions remain about the sufficiency of the evidence against him.
COLDListenAlum Rock, Birmingham, England · 1960s
Jacqueline Thomas, a 15-year-old factory worker, was sexually assaulted and strangled after disappearing from a funfair in Birmingham in August 1961. The case went unsolved for decades until a 2007 cold case charge against a suspect already serving a life sentence for another murder was stayed by a judge due to the passage of time.
Credit: CBS News / Travis Alexander (personal photo)Editorial useSourceSOLVEDListenMesa, Arizona, United States · 2000s
Travis Alexander, 30, was stabbed, slashed, and shot to death in his Mesa, Arizona home on June 4, 2008. His ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 and sentenced to life without parole in 2015 after two juries deadlocked on the death penalty.
Credit: Prugna at Italian WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenVia della Pergola 7, Perugia, Italy · 2000s
British exchange student Meredith Kercher was found murdered in her Perugia flat on 2 November 2007. Rudy Guede was convicted of her sexual assault and murder in a fast-track trial. Kercher's roommate Amanda Knox and Knox's boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were separately convicted, then acquitted, reconvicted, and finally acquitted and declared innocent by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation in 2015.
SOLVEDListenMacon, Georgia, United States · 2011
Lauren Giddings, a recent Mercer University School of Law graduate studying for the bar exam, was strangled and dismembered in Macon, Georgia, in June 2011 by her neighbor and former classmate Stephen Mark McDaniel, who pleaded guilty in 2014.
