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Battersea stabbing victim had sung on Britain's Got Talent Battersea stabbing victim had sung on Britain's Got Talent
(about 4 hours later)
A woman found stabbed to death in her London home was a nurse who had performed in a choir on Britain’s Got Talent after her son died of sickle cell disease. A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a nurse who performed on Britain's Got Talent this year in an NHS choir.
Police named the 31-year-old found with a knife wound at her flat in Battersea on Wednesday as Simonne Kerr. Desmond Sylva, 40, is accused of fatally stabbing 31-year-old Simonne Kerr at her home in Battersea, south-west London.
Desmond Sylva, 40, of Grayshott Road, was arrested at the scene. On Thursday he was charged with murder. He was due to appear at Wimbledon magistrates court on Friday. Police were called shortly before 12.40pm on Wednesday to the Victorian terrace and Kerr was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kerr was a haematology and oncology nurse at Guy’s hospital in central London and had appeared on the ITV talent show with the B Positive Choir earlier this year to encourage blood donations. Sylva, who lives at the same address, appeared at Wimbledon magistrates court on Friday. He did not enter a plea and spoke only to confirm his details during the short hearing. He was remanded in custody and ordered to appear at the Old Bailey on 21 August.
At the time she told explained how the performances gave her strength after her six-year-old son Kavele died of the blood disorder sickle cell disease in 2015. Kerr, whose death sparked the 90th homicide investigation in the capital this year, was a haematology and oncology nurse at Guy’s hospital in central London. She appeared on the ITV talent show with the B Positive Choir this year, signing Rise Up, to encourage blood donations.
The group of NHS nurses and doctors sang Rise Up, which left the judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon in tears. At the time she said the performances gave her strength after her six-year-old son Kavele died from sickle cell disease, a blood disorder, in 2015.
Police said Kerr, whose death initiated the 90th homicide investigation in the capital this year, lived in the flat but was originally from Wembley, north-west London. Kerr found out she was a carrier of the gene for sickle cell disease after a routine screening when she was 12 weeks’ pregnant with Kavele.
Police were called to the property shortly before 12.40pm on Wednesday but she was pronounced dead at the scene. In an interview for the NHS’s Blood Donor website, she said Kavele died hours after waking up vomiting and with a high temperature.
Vickie Foot, 43, who lives nearby and witness the arrest, described the killing as “absolutely shocking”. “I called for an ambulance and was told we would have to wait up to 45 minutes. An hour later I telephoned 999 again because Kavele’s breathing became more laboured,” she said.
Scotland Yard said that at this stage detectives were not looking for any other suspects.
The victim’s next of kin had been informed and a postmortem examination was to have taken place on Thursday.
Kerr found out she was a carrier of the sickle cell disease gene after a routine screening when she was 12 weeks pregnant with Kavele. She had previously told the NHS’s Blood Donor website about the moment when Kavele died, having woken up vomiting and with a high temperature.
“I called for an ambulance and was told we would have to wait up to 45 minutes. An hour later I telephoned 999 again because Kavele’s breathing became more laboured.
“Kavele went into cardiac arrest approximately 20-30 minutes after several ambulance crews started to arrive. He did not recover and passed away in hospital several hours later.”“Kavele went into cardiac arrest approximately 20-30 minutes after several ambulance crews started to arrive. He did not recover and passed away in hospital several hours later.”
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