Moment killer laughs to police after stamping to death mother who tried to help him following car crash

A murderer laughed at police after stamping a mother who tried to help him to death in a horrific random attack.

Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, 24, was found guilty of murder after he launched a violent attack on 56-year-old mother Nila Patel, minutes after throwing her BMW onto its roof in broad daylight in the city centre.

Ms Patel got off the bus to help Ahanönü after the car accident; but Ahanönü reacted by kicking her violently, causing brain damage that would lead to the mother’s death two days later.

His trial heard the stranger had been released on leave from prison just a year before the attack on Ms Patel.

In the chilling footage, Ahanönü can be seen laughing and grinning in custody when the police showed him the video of him attacking Ms Patel.

Ahanönü claimed he did not remember the murder, but insisted to the police that he needed to see the footage, saying: ‘I don’t remember killing him, but I need to see it, brother.’

When asked by police what he found amusing, he replied: ‘If I don’t laugh, I cry.’

Ms Patel died in hospital from brain damage two days after the attack in Leicester City Center in June last year.

Former university student Ahanönü, originally from Peckham in south-east London, had crashed his car after driving erratically and dangerously around the city centre; crossing lanes, passing traffic lights and heading towards a bus stop where people were waiting and pedestrians were crossing the road.

Nila Patel, 56, was killed in a brutal attack by 23-year-old Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, whom she did not know.

Ms Patel had just gotten off the bus and was walking home when Ahanönü attacked her for no reason.

Security guards from nearby Leicester Royal Infirmary rushed to the scene and managed to restrain Ahanönü until police arrived.

After his arrest, it was determined that Ahanönü smoked marijuana and had bags of marijuana with him in the vehicle.

His family, who were on a bus in the area at the time of the crash, described the victim as having a ‘beautiful, vibrant soul’ and ‘one of the kindest-hearted people you could ever meet’.

The court was told Ahanönü avoided a two-year prison sentence in July 2024 after he was found with more than £1,000 in cash and a machete after running a red light in September 2023.

Before the hearing, Ahanönü admitted dangerous driving, possession with intent to supply Class B drugs and assaulting an emergency worker.

He also admitted manslaughter but was found guilty of murder on Monday after a five-week trial.

Ahanönü from Leicester is expected to be sentenced today at Leicester Royal Court.

Ahanönü’s BMW 1 Series went out of control, flew into the island at the intersection and destroyed the guardrails.

The car then rolled over and hit the second guardrail on the side of the road.

Following the conviction, police released CCTV footage of Ahanönü’s erratic driving at the time of the attack on Ms Patel, as well as body-worn camera footage of him fleeing the collision before he was later detained nearby.

Leicestershire Police also released interview footage in which he was asked about his driving, which he said he could not remember, and the attack on Ms Patel.

He told officers about the attack: ‘I don’t remember killing my brother… I need to see… I’ve never touched a woman in my life.’

At the hearing, prosecutor Mary Prior said Ms Patel, who is 5ft 4in, was ‘brutally attacked’ by Ahanönü.

The prosecutor said the following about Ahanönü: ‘He was a complete stranger to him. This happened in broad daylight in Leicester city centre.

‘He had just gotten off the bus on his way home and was walking along the road, talking on the phone with his dear friend.

‘He was pulled from behind by the defendant and punched in the face so hard that he fell to the pavement. He was then kicked and stamped on while lying on the ground…stamped on his face.

‘He did nothing to cause the attack and was unable to defend himself.’

The court heard Ahanönü was almost four times the legal driving limit for cannabis. No alcohol was found in the blood sample taken approximately three hours after the alleged murder.

The hearing heard that the defendant paid for his flat, BMW, living expenses and drug use by selling marijuana. Ms Prior said Ahanönü was on universal credit and was earning £10,000 a month selling drugs while on benefits.

The court heard the man crashed his car outside Leicester Royal Infirmary at 5.32pm after driving onto the wrong side of the road and crashing into a guardrail.

Ms Patel, who was on a bus on the road at the time and talking to a friend on the phone, saw the collision and therefore got off the bus in front of the LRI to walk home at 5.33pm.

Shortly afterwards the defendant was seen violently attacking Ms Patel, who fell to the ground. Witnesses reported that Ahanönü punched, kicked and stamped Ms Patel.

After his arrest, Ahanönü told the police that he only remembered the collision, but not attacking Ms Patel.

Detective Inspector Emma Matts, Senior Investigating Officer at Leicestershire Police, said: ‘The incident was unknown to Ms Patel. After crashing his vehicle, he ran from the scene and violently attacked Ms Patel.

‘This was the most horrific, violent and random attack by a stranger on a kind, gentle and loving woman who was about to return home.

‘It is difficult to imagine what Ms Patel was going through in those moments. My thoughts continue to be with him, his family and friends who have suffered and continue to suffer the most terrible hardship and suffering.’

He described Ahanönü’s driving in the moments before the collision as ‘scary and disturbing’.

The hearing was told that Ahanönü was given a suspended prison sentence in June 2023 after being found guilty of possessing cannabis for the purpose of supplying it in his university flat.

His car was later stopped by police in August 2023 and again in September 2023, and at the second stop, officers found a machete and marijuana in his vehicle.

Ahanönü was sentenced to 24 months in prison for crimes such as possession of bladed items and violating a suspended sentence order.

This meant that Ahanönü was licensed at the time he attacked Ms Patel.

Junior prosecutor Caroline Bray told jurors earlier this month: ‘His license commenced upon his release from custody on 19 July 2024. ‘His license was supposed to expire on September 20, 2025.’