Subway Attack: The Murder of Tashan Daniel | Murdered at First Sight | Forensic Files

so a little birdie told me that you're leaving Oak Farm what a shame but you taught me in year six all those
years ago and yeah I just wanted to say thank you very much for teaching me getting me onto the next step making me
trying to become one more step to becoming an adult sashan was just uh kind soul
he was thoughtful he was caring and he wanted the best for everyone hi guys what is up it's um Sean Daniel
here family means the world to us Sean was a son that I believe every parent would
want to have to Sean celebrate his 20th birthday with both us as friends and his family as
well he loved to dance and he was a very very kind of positive person I had a phone call from Deshawn's
friend's dad didn't say much he just said something happened reports were a fight of a stabbing you
know a male being seriously injured when we got there there was loads of police cars ambulances there was everyone
crowding around basically I just couldn't understand what was going on and I didn't even notice the wounds or
anything I was just staring at tashan's face stroking him wondering why he wasn't responding
two young men together at a train station and at least one of them is looking for trouble and two young men on
the other side of the platform were the unfortunate victims they were chosen completely at random these murderers are
cowardly in their actions they felt it appropriate to carry a weapon of that nature on a busy train station
and the lack of remorse shown throughout is clear for all to see I know for a fact those particular men
don't know my son or his friend two total strangers just didn't like the look of them
and took my son's life [Music] he just turned 20. foreign [Music] was still in bed and I was getting ready
for school usually I always say goodbye to him in the mornings he would come downstairs while I'd be eating my
breakfast that day he was very tired because he had training the day before so he stayed
and had a lion then I left for school without saying a proper goodbye Tashan had taken his granddad to a
daycare center dropped him there and then popped in to see his mum at work had lunch with her
picked his granddad back up again dropped him home I was home we spoke and he was really excited about going to
the game from a very young age he kind of got embedded with into the Arsenal culture
the gooners he would treat himself he bought a Arsenal ticket to watch the game on that
24th he got changed put his Arsenal top on and his friend came to meet him at home
I was doing something on the computer that I needed his help because Tashan was my technical guy I was absolutely
useless but because he was in a rush he couldn't do it he just ruffled my head gave me a kiss like he always did and he
said Dad I'll sort out tomorrow and off they went they walked down to to the train station
I was originally meant to go with him to the Arsenal game but I couldn't get the time off work so
I found myself coming back on the train when I noticed that Hillingdon was out of service at the time I didn't know why
I returned home I did message him to ask him how he was getting to the football game but I
didn't have a reply at this point [Music] British Council Place is responsible for
all crimes that take place on the railway station and Railway infrastructure from the lowest
investigation which is probably a fair evasion up into the most serious investigations such as murders
British transport police were informed through 999 calls made by Witnesses and members of the public at Hillingdon the
reports were of a fight of a stabbing a male being seriously injured very clearly it was a serious incident
that we were going to have to deal with I'd finished school that day and when I got home I sat downstairs with my dad
then my dad had got a phone call from uh to Sean's friend's dad the only thing that we'd been told was to go to the
station me and ocean jumped in the car to drive down to the station I rang Celia
got the feeling that something bad that happened driving from work to the station
my mum mentioned that there had been a stabbing at Linden station but at the point nothing was revealed to the public
of who it was as I was driving down there the phone call was someone had been stabbed
and I just refused to believe it Peter shine there was no way and there's no way Sean's never been in
trouble he would walk away from a fight tried to call him about five times and I
also messaged him asking him if he was okay I tried to call my friend who was also
with him at that time as well it was 3 30 3 40 in the afternoon at hillington station
it just didn't add up I told her she wanted to stay in the car and I ran into the station
policeman said no you can't go down there and I said to them that I think it's my son
[Music] when I arrived at the station there was lows lows loads of police ambulance cars everything
by that time Shandy was already with him holding him and Oceana was just at the top of the station looking down
so they took me down to him because I begged please I need to go I need to go down
I think there was difficulties in some respects of them entering the scene because it was a crime scene
we discovered that a male had been injured which turned out to be cheshan along with that there was a friend who
was present with Tashan at the time there are multiple units arriving at different times there was a very quick
police response along with the ambulance service the air ambulance attended as well
and it was very quickly established that Sean's life was pronounced extinct a member of the air ambulance paramedic
said to me that they've been working on Tashan for 20 minutes they had tried everything they could do
um he'd lost a lot of blood and unfortunately they're going to stop working over here
and then we can see they're rushed over to Tashan and then I had to tell tell Celia
Sean's parents would have witnessed a horrific scene really there was an awful lot of blood
obviously distressed people still around medical staff um well obviously the most impactive
film they saw was was to Sean and probably that sense of helplessness I still couldn't get my head around it
I just thought we'd Fallen I was in shock I just couldn't understand what was going on I didn't
even notice the wounds or anything I was just staring at Deshawn's face he still
getting him wondering why he wasn't responding Shandy was still holding him and I asked could I hold his hand please
and they said just for a minute because he had just and pronounce I Collapse on the floor
and one of the officers kind of hold me back call me up Sean received a single stab wound that
punctured his chest punctured his heart and into the lung which was the Fatal and only
injury that Sean received I just remember my dad's screaming saying that he didn't make it
the emotions I was feeling was just numbness really I couldn't comprehend it I couldn't take it in
as soon as to Sean was going to be dead then that became a murder investigation there are certain kind of fast-time
actions which are generated which is securing the scene and making sure that nothing's contaminated making sure any
evidence that we can obtain is obtained in a forensic manner and they're looking wider afield about
how we can capture images suspect movements and what's actually taken place there's also the harvesting of
intelligence in relation to what Witnesses say they saw Which Way those suspects went was anything discarded so
quite quickly your scene is very very large you think that violent assaults take
place in dark Corners not in front of everybody on a busy train platform this is not what you expect to happen in
front of your eyes in the midst of a crowd I think that any conceptions you had about what is a safe place and what
is not a safe place a suddenly blown out of the water the station itself we found no real
evidence apart from the evidence which was unfortunately Tashan we had multiple Witnesses at the scene
who actually seen the incident albeit bleaching late as the train had pulled into the station
most of arguments as were on the train so some of their Visions was obscured and the train was moving at the time but
it became quite apparent there had been an altercation on the platform on the CCTV it showed the white male
quite quickly gets involved in a heath discussion argument with two males on the opposite platform
as he's going up the stairs he meets the black male and they both then go down onto that
opposite platform where Tashan was with his friend and almost instantaneously a physical
assault starts taking place [Music] in the initial stage is the investigation I had to base my
hypotheses on what I think is taking place the reasons for it initially I thought that it would be
Gang Related or that there was knowledge of issues between the two parties and then maybe it being football related
because DeSean was wearing an Arsenal football shirt we need to identify those suspects are
so I put parameters in place in relation to CCTV trolls and obviously house to house inquiries
the witness appeal that we launched very very quickly in multiple social media lines that we're getting in all of these
revenues we have to explore and have to develop to try and identify who those suspects are a white male and a black
male in London foreign I couldn't do anything until Sean's gone and my heart just shattered
they ushered us into staff ticket office room at Hidden station none of us knew what to do really it was
just you know I only had lots of Tears hugs and things but we were all in a step
shock we were just still couldn't understand couldn't believe it would have been the last person that
should have happened to you just wouldn't sink in just couldn't process it really
Sean did not have any graduates with anyone no one had anything against a chance so
for someone to do this it had to be a stranger [Music] was the most amazing son he had manners
he looked after all his cousins his friends just know life you don't get the results
you want just know everything happens for a reason like in the day like everything will work out in his end like
if things go back it's how you come back from that in it buying a setbacks major
combats G come on and especially his baby sister to Sean had a bond that I can't really
describe we got on like best friends there would obviously be times where we didn't get along but most of the time
that we spent was always laughing me and Tashan grew up together we played for various different football
teams I believe we started at the age of five to Sean had a real passion for athletics
it was 200 meters 400 meters and long jump his passion really came when he excelled
at 200 meters he was absolutely demolishing his time and also breaking records within the borough and Middlesex
[Music] I had a group of young athletes and Tashan was one of them I soon noticed that Tashan had
an ability that not many people have he was very explosive very elastic type of athlete which is necessary for
sprinting this kid had the ability to go very far in the sport and he wanted to go as far as the Olympic Games and that
was definitely something that we was heading towards [Music] foreign occurred on September 24 2019 at the
tube station during Peak commuter time there were plenty of witnesses lots of people going in and out of the station
CCTV cameras this was not something that was going to be hidden for long and certainly the people that did it knew
that they were in plain sight of lots of onlookers and chose to do it anyway when we started researching to Sean and
his friend these were really good kids there was nothing in relation to them and the police it became very apparent
very very quickly that Tashan didn't know the Suspects and so it was really just a stranger
attack it seemed to be completely and utterly unprovoked [Music] Witnesses reported along with the CCTV
of the location that showed both suspects running out of the station stopping briefly and appearing to smile
only moments after taking to Sean's life this is obviously going to cause concern
for the officers who are in charge of this investigation are they going to do something similar soon because they seem
to have enjoyed this experience and so they're going to want to find them as soon as possible
[Music] we are able to establish very very quickly that they exited the station and
following that Witnesses have started reporting that they'd send two males acting suspiciously approximately about
500 meters away to erosion Oriole Drive that was probably an hour and a half after the instant
and there we found clothing that had been discarded their intention was to disguise
themselves and they've done that by removing their clothing stealing women's pajamas from a washing line and a towel
for the purpose of making sure that they weren't seen in the clothing they had been wearing albeit the disguises they
chose probably made moms are probably more aware of their movements and their behavior
whilst that crime scene was maintained we brought in a dog and that police dog identified the location of the murder
weapon which had been hidden under some rocks separate and away from the clothing
this wasn't a kitchen knife taken from a block at a home this was an aviator knife produced in Germany it was a
horrific knife one that if you were to stab somebody with that knife there's really only one
consequence which is going to happen from that and that unfortunately is the death of
another human being [Music] I got a call from my dad saying he's coming straight home and that we were to
go around to Sean's house to speak to the family and I remember getting outside the door and the police were
still there they asked me why are you going in how do you know the family and I'll explain to them how I knew them
and then one of them gave me a hug and I asked them whether he was he passed away
and they said yeah what made it real for me was when I walked through the door and I saw his
parents in pieces and that's when I broke down it just felt weird really that my
brother was on the news as a victim of knife crime something that I never ever in my life would have
thought happened so the police were very supportive they gave us the information that they could
of at the time as much of the information that they knew they didn't really know much no one knew much I
tried to distract myself by going to school and obviously I know things were never going to go back to normal but I
just wanted it to I just I hated everything that was going on days after it happened with tishon
and myself were not sleeping at all we've actually was sleeping into Sean's bedroom
you know thinking maybe he's going to come home [Music] but we know he wasn't coming back
three of us were completely emptied I had no more tears left all three of us were completely flat
the DCI said to us he know looking at some of the footage at that particular time it was on provoke
and he said to us we will find we will get them he may declare that it was not gang-related drugs related it was an
innocent young man standing waiting for a train I know my son and his friend are not
Fighters they're just normal too large just minding their own business conception that a victim must have done
something to provoke an attack particularly when that victim is a black young man now Tashan was not involved in
any gang-related activity he was not involved in any law breaking activity he was in no way connected to the man
who chose to kill him so he's completely innocent in all of this so having visited the family I was
immediately presented with a loving family one that was all coming together all wanting to know the process how we
were going to capture these people that had done this to their son and loved one
and that puts extra pressure on me but at the same time Mooney pushes me forward and drives me to make sure that
we get the best possible result we can get for the family so when we found that clothing and the
knife because it was forensically recovered by trained officers and that was sent to the laboratory for analysis
and three days later that result came back on a specific baseball cap which gave us the DNA of the suspect the white
male who was Alex Lanning through moment the investigation because there's DNA of somebody else and that's
somebody else is Alex Lanning Alex Lanning was known to the police planning had been sentenced in relation
to a section 20 wounding where a knife had been used in Brighton during a drug deal
not only has Lanning served time for stabbing somebody not once but 11 times he's actually still on license for that
offense he was sentenced to four years and served half of that probably a very lenient sentence to take account of his
young age but here he is he's on license he should be keeping his nose clean not involving
himself in totally unnecessary and Mindless violence it's my opinion that Alex Landing would
have known that he would have either seriously injured or killed Deshawn just by the nature of the weapon that he used
the force he used and the fact that he would have been covered in blood thank you
the fact that this man had this specific type of knife and had no reason to use it shows that he was co-opting it for
criminal purpose and then to use it against this poor boy who had done nothing to him it was almost like he was
getting a thrill out of it perhaps because he had done in the past and enjoyed it so much or because he wanted
more Street Credibility by using this knife and really didn't care about the consequences
this was a very very quick confrontation started by Alex Lanning on the opposite
platform and then carried through to the attack on Tashan and his friend so we now have Alex Landing
my main priority is him and finding out everything I possibly can about his friends Associates where he lives his
family try to put things in place to identify and catch him in relation to this murder
the killer and his accomplished go on the run it tells you a little bit about them these are not a pair of individuals
who are going to hand themselves in they're not going to acknowledge what they've done and what they have taken
from tashan's family so they're clearly not really thinking about this in a way that serves anybody other than
themselves we established that Alex lanning's iPhone had turned back on which gave us
hope of identifying where his location would be but it quickly transpired that Alex Langley had sold his iPhone with
the assistance of of two friends in a local second-hand shop in Uxbridge and have received a significant amount of
money the problem then for us carrying out a Manhunt was they now have funds so it makes it harder because they can go
further and actually stay off the police radar for longer which is a frustration
foreign work in relation to Alex Landing what his life was about his family his friends his associates people he'd been
in prison with we're doing all of that research but I still have another suspect
outstanding four hours after the name of Alex Landing came through we received intelligence that linked A Jojo that's
all we had a nickname on Sunday the 29th in the early hours we found a nickname of Jojo was running a drug slide in the
southwest further research on jojo gave us a custom image and he matched the CCTV from Hillingdon
and the blackmail Jonathan Camille Johnson Camille only had a previous caution in relation to drugs but there
was Intelligence linking Jonathan Camille to drug Supply not just in that area of Hillingdon but also wider field
Jonathan Camille was somebody who was known to the police because he'd been involved in county lines drug dealing so
that's trafficking drugs from one area of the UK to another now a lot of young boys are often recruited into county
lines so they are exploited and it's possible that he had been exploited as a youth but as an adult he had continued
drug dealing and at that point he is fully responsible for his actions we had a Manhunt
we were trying to find Alex Lanning and Jonathan Camille who were doing their best to evade Us in London and the home
counties so the needle in the haystack Springs to mind what I found very very difficult was
having to speak to the family regularly and just to keep them on board that we were doing everything we could and that
we knew who they were it was just we just had to find them I was more scared for my daughter Oceana
because how close it happened to home how close we lived from the station a small prayer to protect her
while they were still on the Run so I started to think how am I going to actually capture Alex Lanning and
Jonathan Camille we found Jonathan Camille through his family Associates and we started monitoring his movements
but my main focus was Alex Lanning he was the one that had used that weapon and I needed Alex Landing in custody
[Music] well I've got a choice to make in a restaurant from Camille and then potentially Alex Lanning goes further
and further away more under the radar but I felt that we were getting closer and closer to Alex Lanning with that
link to Jonathan Camille and I knew that I had to get Alex Landing in custody the police at this point would be
looking at their mobile phones tracing where calls are coming from they'd be looking at whether there's a digital
print of them so are they spending money anywhere on their bank cards put some triggers in place and that
involved some friends who'd been involved in assisting Alex Lanning selling his mobile phone and also
looking at a cellmate that Alex Landing had spent five months in prison with so we were looking at those Associates
we started arresting individuals or applying some form of police pressure in relation to making Camille and Lanning
come out to make them meet with each other my hypothesis is Jonathan Camille was
going to lead us to Alex Landing we actually lost the surveillance on Camille I was under intense pressure but I've
got a very very supportive team and I have an incredibly supportive family into Sean's family
and they were kept up to date as best I could I don't think my heart actually worked
on those 10 days it was really really nerve-wracking because I didn't want my son to shine
Killers to be on the Run we have phone activation and we managed to obtain surveillance again on Jonathan
Camille in central London where he met with Alex Lanning we then continued that surveillance through Central London
along Oxford Street they were located in court in the cheap side area of London on October the 4th 2019 Lanning and
Camille Camille were arrested so this was after 10 days on the Run a great sense of relief when we were
able to inform the family that we'd kept good on our promise we're going to arrest the individuals
involved in killing to Sean they'd supported me through those 10 days of that investigation
when I made that promise and they'd kept faith I must say The British transport police
was really really good with us every little bit leading up to the arrest they would keep us in touch let us know how
close what they're planning to do what the situation is and exactly what they said to us that they wanted to catch
both of them together not just one and the other they did exactly what they did and caught the both of them together
knowing that they're called to them some form of Justice could be served in order to put my son to rest properly
Alex Landing was interviewed at length around the murder he chose to answer all comments no comments and gave no
indication or remorse during those interviews Jonathan Camille was also interviewed
during custody where he prepared a statement and that statement basically denied his involvement in the murder
[Music] and that was really all that he said [Music] the memorial that we had for tasham was
as good as it could be it was emotional however it was a good way to celebrate to Sean's life
is looking down on us right now I haven't truly believe he knows how much he was loved from family to friends to
Sean's honorable he cared for everyone and he always done his best to make everyone around the world
healing then literally came into a standstill the gospel singing um the live band
the amount of people told me it was about a thousand people there on that day our Sam was fresh flying funky because
that's the person that sisham was we all wore trainers Sean loved his trainers we listen to his favorite music
everyone kind of got together to celebrate the amazing person to Sean was so many people said they've never been
to to something like that in the end of time it was just made us really proud um Tashan
that we were able to give to Sean that send off we will all never forget you our best
friend our brother our family may you rest in Eternal peace I love you brother thank you
I think he was with us in spirit and I think he would have been happy with the turnout and also all the loved ones that
were there to celebrate his life it made me proud to call to Sean my brother because he made me and so many other
people in the Supreme Court the rest of everyone I love you [Applause] [Music] when we received back the DNA analysis
from that murder weapon it just confirmed what we already knew that supporting evidence that Alex Lange's
DNA was on that murder weapon unfortunately along with the DNA of Deshawn Daniels
the process is always a very daunting one probably made even more so by it being the most famous court in the land
the old bayley I get nervous at the Old Bailey I can only imagine how nervous and traumatic it was for the family
we had to gear ourselves up for the trial but I've never been to court we've never
experienced anything like this so we were psyching ourselves up for it I particularly were very very scared
because when we first set eyes on the two lads they had no remorse whatsoever no remorse
and that it was painful painful in court we were able to find out exactly what had happened we were able
to also watch it on the CCTV as well and how DeSean did spend the last moments of
his life and that my friend was also pleading to DeSean to to hang on and to do the best he could to stay alive and
it just goes to show the damage that one that knife did and to the power that the
attacker did use to harm to Sean foreign [Music] when it was the first day of the trial
he had looked back at us quite a lot of times and I just remember questioning like how do you have the audacity to
look at us in the eye lannin he did not look up subtle he kind of kept himself to himself he didn't
turn back he looked straight at the judge Alex Lanning he admitted the manslaughter but claimed that it was an
accident that Tashan had fallen on the knife and then those defenses seemed to change
and morph slightly during the trial but he always denied the murder when I heard the defense's story I was
just shocked really I think that's the best way to describe it I couldn't believe the stuff that they were saying
the defense team tried to make it out that desean's phone starting the altercation by saying what you're
looking at and to Sean had fired a punch to one of the guys [Music] but he was actually trying to block
himself when he watched the footage Deshawn was literally trying to protect himself within a Split Second
he did that to my child defense team saying it was an accident it was not an accident
it was actually he went out there to do something to somebody you do not walk the street with the type of knife that
he walked with so I hatred really and it's not you know our nature to be like that
but just for an immense hatred that two people could do something like that to someone else go on the run for 10 days
and some of the stuff that we heard in court was heartbreaking received a life sentence in relation to
murder he will not be eligible for parole for 25 years and Jonathan Camille was convicted of manslaughter and was
sentenced to six years and six months for his part in the event and I think that is appropriate
the fact that Jonathan Camille wasn't responsible for the blade being forced into tashard's chest nevertheless his
specific involvement during that violence was a catalyst to all of the events and
he has to accept his responsibility for the death of Tashan almost as much as Alex Lanning
the nature of these offenses was entirely impulsive and completely Reckless truly it could have happened to anybody
on that platform that day and unfortunately it just so happened to happen to DeShawn
this was like a five minute event Alex landing on one platform starting a confrontation an argument for
no reason and he could have just walked away and he didn't and now the family are left with that
huge hole and they can't feel that as parents we had to watch in disbelief as the paramedics worked on our son's
lifeless body on that platform at Hillingdon a platform which we will never be able
to use again [Music] it's frightening to think that all of this can come from a glance you look at
the wrong person in a certain kind of way that they interpret as a funny look or a dirty look this is across a train
platform chances are that he wasn't even looking at them in the first place and if he were so what
this is a frightening part about this the fact that violence can spring from such a tiny tiny trigger
[Music] I feel upset for my brother he didn't get to have those dreams that he wanted
and it's just foreign say how angry I feel about how he was killed because someone didn't like the way he looked at
him part of my heart is broken and it's never going to be mended ever again [Music]
[Music] it would have been beautiful to see how his life would have planned out it would have been beautiful to see that
because he's a good human being he's a loving human being I missed Ashan every single day
and there's not a day that goes by way I don't think about him there's not a day
that goes by that don't think about what he'd be doing right now with his Athletics with him smashing the goals
we used to watch Tashan train here we used to watch him compete here so it's full of lots of good good good family
memories actually it's a massive huge hole in our hearts and real lives I think everyone's got their own
memories of Tashan it's definitely fun happy memories of him I don't really recall any bad words or
bad memories of that anyone has to save to Sean and for me as his dad as his I'm really
pleased to hear that um I know that we raised a fine young man and to hear the amazing words I've said
about him with joy as you can see not much has really changed apart from this little bum fluff on my face but
thank you very much teacher in year six and uh I wish you all the best in your next chapter of your life
[Music] foreign

EPISODE 4 – TASHAN DANIEL

In 2019, 20-year-old Tashan Daniel is on his way to watch a soccer match. He’s waiting on the subway platform in London when he is suddenly attacked over a “funny look” that aggravated his attackers. What follows is a tragic story that shocks all of London. Can you ever really feel safe on the subway or public transportation anymore? Comment below your thoughts and be sure to like and subscribe to stay tuned for new episodes. Murdered At First Sight is a true crime documentary series that tells the first-hand stories of the most complex and hard-to-solve homicide cases: murders committed by strangers.

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Brief Summary

Tashan Daniels was murdered in a random attack, leading to a painful investigation and trial that deeply affected his family and community.

Key points

A Kind Soul Remembered. Tashan was a thoughtful and caring individual, loved by all who knew him.
Tragic Incident at the Station. A fight escalates into a stabbing, leaving a community in shock.
The Horrific Reality. Witnesses describe the chaos and bloodshed at the train station.
The Investigation Begins. Detectives quickly realize the attack was unprovoked and targeted.
Finding the Suspects. DNA evidence leads to the identification of a known criminal.
The Manhunt Intensifies. The investigation into Alex Lanning and Jonathan Camille escalates as they evade capture.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He just turned 20.

2:25WatchNov 10, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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