Nila Patel died after she was violently attacked last June
Credit: Leicestershire Police
NEED TO KNOW
- Chukwuemeka Michael Ahanonu was convicted of the murder of Nila Patel and sentenced to life in prison
- Police said Ahanonu was driving under the influence of cannabis when he crashed a car, fled the scene and then randomly attacked Patel, who was walking home
- Ahanonu was shown footage of his driving and briefly laughed, telling detectives, “If I don’t laugh, I cry”
A U.K. man was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of the 2025 murder of a woman he violently attacked after crashing a car.
Chukwuemeka Michael Ahanonu, 24, was found guilty of the murder of Nila Patel, 56, on Monday, March 23 after previously pleading guilty to dangerous driving, possession with intent to supply drugs and assaulting an emergency worker, Leicestershire Police said in a news release.
The conviction stems from an incident that occurred in June 2024, during which police said Ahanonu was driving a car in Leicester, briefly collided with a curb in front of a bus stop and then continued driving, eventually on the wrong side of the road before crashing and overturning the vehicle.
"As people gathered round the vehicle, opening the door to try and help Ahanonu, the defendant managed to get himself free from the vehicle and ran along the road at the side of the hospital," Leicestershire police said.
Police said Patel had been on a bus on the road where Ahanonu crashed and that she got off and began walking home.
"It was a short distance later that the defendant was then seen to violently attack Ms Patel who fell to the ground," police said. "Witnesses reported Ahanonu punching, kicking and stamping on Ms Patel."
Ahanonu did not know Patel prior to what appeared to be a random attack, authorities said.
Investigators determined that Ahanonu had been under the influence of cannabis at the time and that his car contained dealer bags of the drug.
Leicestershire police released footage of Ahanonu's interview with detectives following his arrest. In it, he is shown surveillance video of his driving and appeared to be in disbelief, saying that he couldn't remember any of it.
At one point, Ahanonu briefly laughs and says, "If I don't laugh, I cry, I'm in so much pain right now."
Detectives then showed Ahanonu video of the attack on Patel and he pleaded, seemingly through tears, that he couldn't remember and asked to see the footage again.
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"I don't remember killing her," he said. "I need to see it."
Patel suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury as a result of the attack and died in the hospital two days later.
Police said Patel's family described her as a "beautiful, vibrant soul."
Ahanonu was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 21 years and six months.
"Ahanonu was unknown to Ms Patel," Detective Inspector Emma Matts said in a statement. "This was the most horrific, violent and random attack by a stranger on a kind, gentle and loving woman who was simply making her way home."
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