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Teenage double murderer jailed for at least 31 years

Nyron Jean-Baptiste committed two murders within a year when he was a teenager.

Sam Hall
Tuesday 06 February 2024 09:23 EST
Michael Jonas was stabbed to death in Bromley (Handout/PA)
Michael Jonas was stabbed to death in Bromley (Handout/PA) (PA Archive)

A drill rapper who committed two murders within a year has been locked up for at least 31 years.

Nyron Jean-Baptiste was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Michael Jonas, who was fatally stabbed in Betts Park, Bromley, south London, on November 2 2017.

Almost exactly a year later, he murdered 15-year-old Jay Hughes outside a chicken shop in Bellingham, south-east London, on November 1 2018.

In 2019, Jean-Baptiste, 22, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years for his part in Jayā€™s killing.

On Tuesday, Judge Peter Rook jailed him for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 31 years for Michaelā€™s murder.

Five co-defendants also received life sentences having been found guilty of murder after CCTV and forensics linked them to the crime.

Ryan Brown, 21, from Croydon, was handed a minimum term of 12 years.

Divon Henry-Campbell, 23, from Gravesend in Kent, received a term of 18 years; Jamie Marshall, 22, from Bromley, got 13 years; Jason Smith, 20, was handed 12 years and six months; and Sarraviho Smith, 24, was told he would spend at least 17 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

On Monday, Michaelā€™s mother Petrona Anderson said her son would be ā€œmissed foreverā€ and that his death gives her nightmares ā€œevery nightā€.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said: ā€œI could not believe this was the same park I had been taking Michael to since he was very young and now he was lying on the ground, stabbed to death.

ā€œThe passing of my son makes me feel broken inside, as if a part of me has gone with him.

ā€œNot a day goes by where I donā€™t think about him. I miss him so much.ā€

Ms Anderson added: ā€œMichael was loved by everyone. He was a talented young man with goals and morals.ā€

Michaelā€™s father, Michael Jonas Sr, said losing his son was the most ā€œdevastatingā€ part of his life.

Mr Jonas worked as a bus driver for more than 22 years but had to give up his job as it was ā€œdifficult living my life knowing what happened to my sonā€.

He said: ā€œListening to the detail in court about how my son was brutally killed will stay with me for the rest of my days.

ā€œNo-one should ever have to bury their child first, itā€™s my death sentence.

ā€œThere is a hole in my heart that will stay there forever.

ā€œThese young men have shown no remorse for what they have done to my son. They had their chance to change and have not.ā€

He added that Michael was a ā€œlovely personā€ who had just enrolled in college before he was killed.

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