After an early-morning altercation at a train station, a young man fatally stabbed a 24-year-old in the neck.
The man has been convicted guilty of murder.
Late last month, Seyram Kwami Djentuh entered a not guilty plea in Brisbane Supreme Court over the July 11, 2022, murder of Lauie Tagaloa during an incident in the inner Brisbane neighborhood of Fortitude Valley.
In her opening statement, Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso stated that Tagaloa passed away shortly after 4 a.m. from an 11.5-centimeter stab wound to the left side of his neck, inflicted “in one swift move” by Djentuh.
“Immediately blood can be seen flowing from that wound onto the floor.” Following around eight hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a guilty decision on Tuesday.
Djentuh received a life sentence with the requirement to serve at least 20 years in jail before being eligible for release.
“It’s about defending yourself from what is clearly an imminent threat, coming in your direction in the form of a big man, in the form of someone who has already proven that they can do serious damage to your two friends and he did that in a matter of seconds,” he stated.
The males were in two groups and had left different nightclubs in Fortitude Valley around three in the morning when they first saw each other.
During the trial, a significant portion of the men’s movements were documented by CCTV and phone footage, which continued until 4.07 am, when emergency services were contacted following the stabbing.
Before the last conflict with Tagaloa’s gang, Djentuh was shown in the video obtaining a bottle of water, walking to the back of a NightOwl store, and grabbing some orange-handled scissors, which he tucked into the back of his white jeans.
