A heartbroken mum has opened up about the devastating death of her son after he was shot by his own brother-in-law.
Zikel Bobmanuel was murdered by his half-brother, Rumaal Ingram, following a row over trainers in Openshaw, Manchester. 31-year-old Bobmanuel and 36-year-old Ingram share the same father, and were raised as brothers.
Recruitment consultancy owner Justina recalled Ingram often being in her home and said the boys stayed in touch following her split from their dad. In adulthood, she said Ingram started to get into trouble.
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Justina told The Mirror: “Zikel and Rumaal were half-brothers and were very close as children. They drifted a bit later on, but I could never have imagined in my worst nightmare that Rumaal would take my son from me.
(Image: MEN Media)
In March 2023, Bobmanuel visited his mum to help clear out his late grandfather’s house a week after the funeral took place.
Bobmanuel was arguing on the phone with a friend – Emmanuel Onasanya, who ran a cleaning business. Zikel had given Onasanya five trainers to clean, forking out £20 each. Because Bobmanuel took several months to collect his trainers, the price went up to £30, Justina explained. It was then that Ingram got involved, threatening to shoot Bobmanuel.
She added: “Obviously we didn’t take it seriously; it was a minor spat over trainers, and it had nothing at all to do with Rumaal, apart from the fact that he knew both men. Besides, Rumaal was family. I would never have imagined he had a gun, or that he would shoot his own brother.”
(Image: MEN Media)
Bobmanuel left to meet his brother shortly after. Justina recalled hearing a popping noise, which she did not associate with a gunshot. But she began to worry when her son didn’t come back.
She went outside and saw blue lights at the bottom of the street, and said she “just knew” her son had been shot. She later learned Bobmanuel had died in the street from a gunshot as Ingram fled.
A trial at Manchester Crown Court heard how a bullet was fired into the ground, before it “fragmented” and ricocheted, hitting Bobmanuel in the neck and killing him. Ingram denied intending to kill or seriously harm, claiming he had brought the gun to only as a threat and fired it as a “warning” to “scare” his half-brother.
The court also heard that two months earlier, Ingram had been at the scene of another shooting.
Ingram pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was acquitted of murder. He was jailed for life in June and will serve a 16-year minimum sentence. Onasanya, who had driven to the scene with Ingram claimed to have “no idea there was going to be violence,” was a acquitted of manslaughter.
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