A court in the United Kingdom has sentenced two young men to four years in prison as responsible for the murder of Yeray Sánchez Morales, a seventeen-year-old from Lanzarote, outside a McDonald's on Old Kent Road (Southwark), a major road in southeast London.
Andrés Tapia Londono and Christhofer Jesús Vázquez, both eighteen years old, have been sentenced to four years in prison for a charge of manslaughter for the murder of Yeray Sánchez. Additionally, Christhofer Jesús Vázquez has also been sentenced to an additional year in prison for possession of a bladed weapon.
In its decision, the court took into account recordings from mobile phones and forensic analyses by detectives that linked the convicted individuals to the murder.
Although the investigation pointed to seven teenagers and young people between fifteen and twenty years old, only two were convicted of murder, while the other five were sentenced for offenses of disturbing public order and violence related to the same events.
An assault that ended Yeray's life
Yeray Sánchez was murdered on the night of Wednesday, August 27, 2025, around 10:45 PM, when he and a friend were sitting outside the fast-food restaurant in this London neighborhood. At that moment, a group of young people approached him.
According to the Metropolitan Police, Yeray Sánchez and the friend who accompanied him were stabbed. Then, the Lanzarote native was kicked and hit with a bottle. That assault caused him nine wounds to the neck and chest and resulted in his death a week later in the hospital.
Yeray's friend, who was also assaulted that night, survived the attacks and stated that he did not know the reasons that motivated the violence against them. Meanwhile, the testimony of a group of teenagers who witnessed the attack was crucial in the investigation.
A murder that shocked the community
Detective Sergeant Debbie Barge of the Metropolitan Police, in charge of the operation, highlighted in court that "Yeray was just a teenager with his whole life ahead of him." "His life was cut short in an act of violence that completely shocked the community." She also sent a message to his family: "We hope these convictions bring them some peace."
Meanwhile, Yeray Sánchez's mother stated that her son "was only seventeen years old when his life was taken." "He had a special way of connecting with others and a kindness that he left in everything he did," she highlighted.
Voice notes and photos of bloody hands
Throughout the investigation, officers used images taken via mobile phones, from security cameras in the area, and images shared by the suspects on social media. Among them were photographs of bloody hands and knives linked to the homicide.
Through the images, officers were able to identify the aggressors by the clothes they were wearing that day. Furthermore, a forensic team identified the DNA of one of the suspects on the rim of the bottle that was used to attack the Lanzaroteño.
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