A suspect has been charged with the murder of a man left blind, paralysed and unable to speak after being stabbed more than six years ago.
Tyrese Osei-Kofi, 24, is accused of knifing 17-year-old Jamel Boyce in the heart and leg during a petty row outside a Sainsbury’s in Clapham, south London on October 14, 2016.
The business student, nicknamed “Smiley” by fellow pupils at St Francis Xavier sixth form college, suffered severe brain damage due to oxygen deprivation.
Mr Boyce remained in a permanent vegetative state requiring 24-hour care.
He passed away aged 22 in a Streatham Hill care home shortly after 5.30am on February 13, 2022.
Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised a charge of murder.
Osei-Kofi, who was 17 at the time of the incident and of no fixed address, is due to appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court on December 27.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Jamel’s family has been informed of this development and they continue to be supported by officers.”
Mr Boyce’s cause of death was ruled, after a post-mortem examination, to be a penetrating injury to the chest.
A police investigation immediately after the attack led to a man being jailed for grievous bodily harm with intent.
The new inquiry was opened after Mr Boyce’s death.
