Overview
- The victim, Dale Martin, was chased, dragged from a car and fatally stabbed in what prosecutors said was a masked ambush on June 15 last year.
- On September 22, 2026 a jury found Jayden Manion-Roberts guilty of murder and convicted Keenan Hamblett, Ki Grant-Finlayson, Kayin Holmes, Kelci Thompson and Shaylon McCalla of manslaughter.
- Prosecutors told the court the group travelled together wearing balaclavas, used knives and a machete or sword that caused the fatal chest and liver wound, and witnesses heard shouts of “kill him, kill him.”
- One defendant, 18-year-old Carlus Grant-Finlayson, was cleared of murder and three other co-defendants were found not guilty of assisting an offender while the six convicted were remanded in custody.
- Sentencing is scheduled for October 2, 2026 and the verdicts are likely to shape local policing and community concerns about organised youth violence and retaliatory group attacks.