A man was found guilty of murdering Britain’s Got Talent finalist Simonne Kerr on Wednesday.
A jury at the Old Bailey found Desmond Sylva, 41, guilty of stabbing Ms Kerr, 31, to death.
Ms Kerr was found by emergency services with multiple stab wounds and partially covered by a duvet on 15 August 2018.
She had just finished a nursing shift at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital, and headed to Sylva’s flat in Clapham.
There, an argument broke out and Sylva stabbed Ms Kerr a total of 70 times with a 20cm kitchen knife.
An ambulance was called by Sylva at 12:38pm, where he admitted he’d killed her.
It was also found that he’d called his brother around 8 minutes earlier to admit to Ms Kerr’s murder.
Sylva initially claimed that he had stabbed her in self-defence and pled guilty to manslaughter.
He later changed his story and admitted it was not self-defence, but that he was suffering from depression at the time which led him to carry out the stabbing.
Sylva was arrested at the scene and charged on 16 August 2018.
He is expected to face sentencing on 28 June 2019.
Ms Kerr was a member of the ‘B Positive choir’, made up of people affected by sickle cell to raise awareness about the disease and blood donation.
They reached the Britain’s Got Talent finals in 2018.
Simonne’s family said in a statement: “The 15 August will forever be a day our family will remember and we will mourn our loss. A beautiful butterfly will forever remind us of Simonne.”
Detective Chief Inspector John Massey said: “Simonne’s family have shown incredible courage and dignity while listening to Desmond Sylva’s self-serving version of events.
“I hope today’s verdict goes some way to providing them with the sense of justice and closure that they need to go forward with their own lives.”
