Shawn Seesahai told his mother: “Mommy, I want to shine in my life.”
But now two 12-year-old boys have been convicted of killing the 19-year-old in a park in Wolverhampton last autumn.
From West Midlands Police:
Shawn had only been in the UK for about six months, having come over from his home in Anguilla for eye surgery. He was living in Birmingham.
On the evening of Monday 13 November last year, Shawn and two of his friends travelled into Wolverhampton on the tram so one of the friends could visit his girlfriend.
Shawn and the other friend bought energy drinks from a petrol station shop and went to Stowlawn playing fields in Wolseley Road to wait for their friend.
While they were sitting on a bench in the darkness some youngsters, who had been on a nearby baseball court, came over.
Tragically the exchange that followed resulted in Shawn being fatally stabbed.
A post mortem later gave the cause of death as a stab wound to his chest. It also showed there was a second significant knife injury to Shawn’s head as well as a number of slash wounds.
Our officers were the first to arrive at the scene and started CPR before paramedics took over.
But despite all their best efforts, Shawn was declared dead at 9.11pm.
We held the scene overnight for forensic examinations and after trawling CCTV and speaking to witnesses, investigators arrested two 12-year-old boys the following evening (14 Nov).
During our searches, in a storage space under one of the youngsters’ beds, a machete was found.
Also seized from the laundry basket at one of the boys’ homes was a tracksuit with apparent blood stains on it.
A forensic analysis of a mobile phone seized by officers, also revealed multiple images of large knives and weapons along with a recent search asking ‘how many criminal records can you have to leave the country’.
Witnesses told us the two boys were at the park and this was backed up by forensic phone work which also placed them there at the time of the fatal attack.
Both boys, who denied murder, refused to answer any further questions during police interviews.
But today (10 June) at Nottingham Crown Court, they were convicted of Shawn’s murder. One admitted possessing a bladed article, while the second was today found guilty of the same charge. They will be sentenced at a later date.
Det Insp Damian Forrest who lead the investigation by the Homicide Unit, said:
“Throughout this case our thoughts have always been with Shawn’s family who have been devastated by his death.
“Today we can only hope that they do feel some degree of peace knowing those who took Shawn’s life have been convicted.
“It became apparent early on in the investigation that those responsible for Shawn’s murder were 12 years old, and that was deeply shocking.
“But it did nothing to reduce our dedication and fervour to ensure Shawn’s killers were brought to justice.
“We worked tirelessly to establish what happened that evening and to leave a jury in no doubt that both boys were responsible for Shawn’s death.
“Our teams worked carefully and respectfully with all those involved, some of them also very young, to build the case which has brought Shawn’s killers to justice.”
Shawn’s parents and sister have been left heartbroken by his death. They have travelled from Anguilla to see justice done for their son.
His mother, Maneshwary, said: “”Shawn was such a loving son, he was so well-mannered, looked after us, was loving to everyone and very protective.
“He always said he wanted to work, he wanted his own house, his own car.
“He liked basketball and cricket, he loved those sports. He was always listening to music. He spent most of his time at home and didn’t want to go out much.”
His father, Suresh, said: “I will remember him every day, when I get home I see his pictures, his clothes, his sneakers, I will always remember him.
“Even at work, I work for myself and he works for me on weekends, when I would pack up my stuff he always helped me.
“Whenever I put anything in my truck now, he will be there with me helping me do it.
“I never had a problem with Shawn, he was such a loving son. He would be up at 5am to work, and whenever I paid him he always saved it.
“We are a very close family, we’ll never forget him.”
Suresh added: “Justice must be done. I want them to have the right sentence, they don’t have to be locked up for life, I just want it to be fair.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll get the justice we’ve come here for.”
Det Insp Damian Forrest added: “Sadly Shawn’s death is yet another reminder of how carrying weapons can have life-changing consequences for all those involved, and their loved ones, forever.”
No matter where you live in the West Midlands, knife crime is an issue which affects us all.
We are playing our part in tackling knife crime, from operational activity to reduce the number of knives on our streets to educational inputs in our schools.
But we cannot do it alone – we need help from everyone and our Life or Knife website provides guidance and help to anyone who can support us.
Find out how you can help us end knife crime here: lifeorknife.west-midlands.police.uk
