Two teenagers killed in Birmingham 20 years ago remembered
Two teenage girls killed outside a New Year party in the West Midlands have been remembered 20 years on from the crime.
Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were gunned down outside a hairdressing salon in the early hours of January 2, 2003.
Charlene's twin sister, Sophie, and her cousin, Cheryl Shaw, were hit but survived. Four men were later jailed in connection with the killings.
The crime sent shockwaves throughout Birmingham and the wider West Midlands – with their families dedicating themselves to campaigning against gun crime.
Letisha's mother Dr Marcia Shakespeare MBE, on the 20th anniversary of the crime, told the BBC she still could not believe two teenage girls could be killed by gunmen armed with a Mac-10 sub-machine gun.
"It just seems impossible," she said. "I just couldn't sit back without making people know the seriousness of taking Letisha's life."
Dr Shakespeare was awarded an MBE in 2016 for her work in steering children onto the right path, but admitted she had nightmares after the killings.
"The only person I do fear is God himself, definitely not individuals in regard to what they've done. And many people said wrong place, wrong time, but what happened on January the second 2003 was out of control," she told the BBC.
"Whatever gang wars, they were willing to kill anything or anyone in that site – the only difference was it was my daughter Letisha."
