Lianne Gordon: Teen who shot innocent mother as she tried to protect her children wrote rap ‘glorifying’ her murder

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A teenager who shot a mother in the head as she stood in the doorway of her Hackney home trying to protect her two children has been jailed for life.

Lianne Gordon, 42, had just returned from a holiday in Jamaica when she became the unintended victim of a gang feud on December 5 last year.

At the time of the fatal shooting, Joshua Alexander was out on bail for attempted murder in connection with a separate incident in March 2023.

Her murder was the culmination of a series of violent incidents between two rival neighborhood gangs. That evening, Ms. Gordon’s 21-year-old son, Kaymound, was in the shower and her 16-year-old daughter came out of her room when she heard what she thought were fireworks.

Although the shooter was wearing a balaclava, she later told police that she recognized her mother’s 17-year-old killer.

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She said: “Mum had her hand on the doorknob and looked like she was trying to close it. Through the open door I could see the tip of the gun. I saw her fall. I went to her.

“As soon as my mother took her last breath and I was still hearing gunshots, I opened the front door and screamed at him and he stared me right in the face.

“He was wearing a balaclava or hood, but I could see enough of his eyes and nose area to recognize him. He didn’t say anything. Everything happened in slow motion. We stood face to face for a few seconds, maybe five, before he ran away. We looked into each other’s eyes and knew it was him.”

Ms Gordon died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the head, while the two victims were treated outside in hospital.

Her twin sister Louise described her as “a force of nature” and said since her death “everything has been destroyed, shattered and broken”.

In a victim impact statement she told the court: “I feel like I have lost my other half. She felt nothing but love for me, as well as anyone who was lucky enough to be in her circle.”

Ms Gordon’s sister added: ‘I feel like I’m underwater most days trying to stay afloat. My mind is still in constant turmoil.”

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She said her twin was shot “like a gangster” in her own home, adding: “This gun crime has torn a hole in my family and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls KC said the incidents arose from a dispute between two Hackney gangs: the Pembury gang, with which Alexander was associated; and the A-Road Gang, with which Mr. Gordon was associated.

It was alleged the defendants threatened Ms Gordon’s son with a large knife as he smoked a cigarette on his doorstep on October 1 last year, although they denied this.

A few days before her murder, Alexander was involved in a horseback ride in rival territory during which a machete and a gun were fired four times, jurors were told.

Mr Gordon, who uses a wheelchair, had denied membership in the A-Road Gang but said the problems began in 2019 when his friend Dotz was murdered.

Over the years, both sides have disrespected each other in music and on social media and revenge attacks have occurred, jurors were told. Despite the teenage defendant’s family trying to distance him from the gang by traveling miles away, he traveled back to Hackney to take part in the shooting.

After the fatal shooting, Alexander searched the internet for Lianne Gordon and “fatal Hackney shooting” 65 times on his computer.

Mr Fenhalls told the jury: “The only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from this activity on this computer is that (the youth) had come home earlier in the evening and wanted to see what was reported about his actions.”

In January, rap lyrics that referenced the shooting and said Kaymound’s mother wore a “wig” were found in his cell, the court heard.

The teenager had already been convicted several times at the age of 15.

Although he denied being the shooter, he was found guilty of murder after the jury deliberated for 21 hours. They also found him guilty of attempting to kill a 17-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man who were shot on the street in the same incident.

He has now been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 29 years. Judge Aubrey turned to Alexander in the dock and told him: “You murdered an innocent woman who was behind her front door in her own home.

“Their home should have been a refuge, a place of safety. However, she died there at your hands while you were in possession of a firearm.”

This gun crime has left a hole in my family and there is nothing we can do about it

The judge said Alexander was “on a mission to execute members of your rival gang that night.”

He said to Alexander: “You have shown no remorse. Regardless of the fact that you murdered an innocent person in her own home who was not the intended target.”

The judge said this was illustrated by rap lyrics found in his prison cell in January that “glorified” his crimes.

The youth was also convicted of affray, having a firearm with intent to endanger life and possessing a bladed article. However, he was acquitted of threatening Ms Gordon’s son with a knife.

Co-defendant Elijah Seriki, 21, from Hackney, was acquitted of all charges against him on Wednesday.