Two men accused of killing a 17-year-old girl in 2018

Two men have been charged with the murder of a 17-year-old girl more than six years after she was killed in a shooting.

Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was socializing with friends when she was shot from a vehicle in Tottenham, north London, in April 2018.

On Wednesday, both Marcus La-Croix, 36, from Hackney, and Michael Clarke, 34, from Luton, were charged with murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life .

La-Croix appeared in custody at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday and was remanded in custody at the Old Bailey for a bail application on Friday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said, while Clarke is due to appear in custody at Willesden Magistrates’. Court on Thursday.

Tanesha was shot in Chalgrove Road at around 9.35pm by a gunman in a silver Vauxhall Meriva coach.

She died at the scene and the car, registration KS56 NKG, was found burnt out in Barnet five days later.

In 2020, it was revealed that the gun used to kill Tanesha was involved in another murder in March 2018.

Joseph Williams-Torres, 20, was killed in a case of mistaken identity in Walthamstow, east London, with the same gun, police said.

Although the Metropolitan Police said there was no suggestion the two murders were linked, forensic tests on the bullet recovered from Tanesha’s body found the same handgun was used.

It is believed to have been a “gun for hire” which had been circulating in north London for at least a year and could have been passed on, Detective Chief Inspector Neil John previously said.