Family tells of heartache after Sheffield man Ramey Salem was shot during a "cold-blooded murder"

A Sheffield Crown Court trial heard how Jabari Fanty, Aaron Yanbak and Ricardo Nkanyezi were found guilty by a jury of murdering 20-year-old Ramey Salem at a flat on Grimesthorpe Road South, Burngreave, Sheffield, on November 16, 2020.

Mr Justice James Goss QC - the trial judge - told the defendants during a sentencing hearing on June 29 that events arose out of rivalries between different gangs of drug-dealers and the killing was a “planned, cold-blooded murder.”

A family member stated: “Ramey was at the heart of our family and his loss was heartbreaking.”

Stephen Wood QC, prosecuting, said a ballistics expert suggested Mr Salem was shot at least five times, with two shots fired in the lounge before he had fled into the hallway and bathroom where further shots were fired.

He added the expert believes the recovered cartridges revealed there were most likely two firearms involved and they were possibly converted from blank-firing pistols.

Mr Salem’s 16-year-old brother stated: “I no longer feel safe to leave the house after school to meet with friends after what happened to Ramey.”

He added: “We are left with a hole in our family. We miss Ramey everyday. Ramey was loved not only by us but by people in the community.”

The deceased’s 18-year-old brother said: "Ever since Ramey has left us the world has been a darker place for our family.”

A family spokesman added: “Our family has been devastated. We have lost a precious son, brother, nephew and grandson.”

They stated: “Our lives will never be the same. There is a sense of pain that is indescribable thinking how cruelly he was taken from us.”

Ramey Salem’s mother also told how her deceased son will never get to see his newly-born brother.

Fanty, Yanbak and another defendant, Jordan Foote, were also found guilty of the attempted murder of Ali al-Humakaini after he was shot at Osgathorpe Park, Burngreave, Sheffield, on October 31, 2020.

Fanty, aged 20, of Broadhead Road, Stocksbridge, was also found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition, conspiring to supply drugs and having a bladed article.

Nkanyezi, aged 20, of Morgan Avenue, Parson Cross, was also found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition, conspiring to supply drugs and possessing a prohibited firearm.

Yanbak, aged 20, of Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, was also found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition and conspiring to supply drugs.

Foote, also aged 20, of Basegreen Road, Basegreen, was also found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition and conspiring to supply drugs.

Another defendant, Samsul Mohammed, aged 20, of Wolseley Road, Highfield, pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition.

And a further defendant Salma Shazad, aged 20, of Deerlands Avenue, Parson Cross, admitted conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition and conspiring to supply drugs.

Mr Justice Goss sentenced Fanty and Yanbak to a minimum term of 35 years’ detention each. Nkanyezi was sentenced to a minimum term of 32 years’ detention and Foote was sentenced to 30 years’ detention.

Mohammed and Shazad will be sentenced at later dates.