The victim’s mother called the defendant and accused him of killing her son
A mentally unwell man has been found guilty of shooting his cousin dead and injuring his brother at a family wake. Jahmel Joseph, 29, blasted Jordan Rodney in the eye then hit his brother Omar Joseph in the head and hand at a gathering in Hammersmith, west London, on June 11 2025.
The next day, Joseph, who has schizophrenia, sped away from police, crashed his Mercedes into multiple cars and then ran through gardens to evade arrest. In his defence, Joseph claimed that in his psychotic state he feared Mr Rodney and then his family and police would kill him.
On Wednesday, Joseph, from Ealing, was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, having a firearm with intent to endanger life, dangerous driving and possessing a shotgun.
Previously, the Old Bailey heard Mr Rodney, 30, had been arguing with Joseph at the wake, with the defendant complaining he had not been sleeping. A relative then told the pair to keep the noise down before telling Joseph to go home.
He later got on his Yamaha motorcycle armed with a shotgun and returned to the wake just before midnight. Mr Rodney was shot at close range in the eye and the defendant’s brother, who survived, turned his head instinctively at the sound and put his hand up to protect his face.
After the shooting, Joseph returned home and drove his Mercedes car to a service station in Buckinghamshire where he bought a coffee.
He went home in the early hours of June 12 and had a “bonfire” in the garden, the court was told. Later that morning, Mr Rodney’s mother – Joseph’s aunt – called the defendant and accused him of killing her son.
Joseph denied it and told her: “I did not do that – I was at home sleeping.” By the time Joseph left his flat again, at around 6.20am, police were looking for him. His Mercedes was spotted in Isleworth and Joseph sped away with police in pursuit.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC had said: “In the course of the chase that followed, the defendant’s car struck a number of other vehicles. In all, about 20 cars sustained differing levels of damage.”
The chase ended when Joseph’s Mercedes collided head-on with another car and came to a stop.
Joseph abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot through neighbouring gardens until he was eventually arrested in a garden. Officers recovered a sawn-off shotgun with the defendant’s DNA on it inside a black bag Joseph had thrown away during the chase.
Jurors were told Joseph had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was prescribed medication for it. His case was that he was unwell at the time of the shooting and acted as he did under the “reasonable belief” that he feared Mr Rodney would kill him.
The jury rejected his explanation after deliberating for just nine hours. Joseph was remanded into custody to be sentenced on a later date.
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