Kai died after being stabbed in the chest in Kingston town centre in the early hours of Saturday, 21 August 2021.
Joseph Barker, 23 of Clifton Gardens, Uxbridge was found guilty of manslaughter; and Ben Myles, 24 of North End Road, W14 Southall was found guilty of murder.
The convictions follow a trial at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 14 October.
A third man – aged 18 – was acquitted.
Detective Inspector Mike Nolan, Specialist Crime South, said: “My thoughts today are with Kai’s family and friends who continue to try and come to terms with this tragic and unnecessary incident which resulted in the death of a young man with his whole life to live.
“That night Myles secured a knife during a night out. Why do that unless you plan to hurt someone? Singling Kai out as the target of his violence, he swiftly concocted a plan – dressing in such a way as to attempt to avoid detection.”
On the night of the murder, 22-year-old Kai had been out in Epsom with a friend. On their way home they decided to drive via Kingston. Parking up on Fife Road they spent some time getting food and chatting to people as they left the nearby Pryzm nightclub.
Barker and Myles had spent the night inside the club and came out at around 03.15hrs. It is believed they spotted Kai and his friend, and Barker made a plan to attack him.
Given the nightclub’s strict security process, it is clear Myles and Barker did not carry knives into the venue, so must have secured them after they left.
Both were seen to place hooded jumpers belonging to two others over their own clothes placing the hoods up, presumably in an effort to conceal their faces from view.
They then approached Kai and Myles produced a knife and stabbed him in the chest. Kai attempted to run from the scene, chased by Barker, but collapsed just minutes later outside the Premier Inn on Wheatfield Street. Managing to get up he walked a short distance before falling outside the Travel Lodge.
Medics from the nightclub and officers who had been called to the scene tended to Kai prior to the arrival of London Ambulance Service who administered treatment before he was flown by air ambulance to St George’s Hospital. Sadly he was later pronounced dead.
Having witnessed Kai’s collapse, Barker returned to the scene of the crime before he and Myles ran off in separate directions. They later met up and remained in the area for more than two hours disposing of their knives and hooded tops.
An investigation was launched by Specialist Crime South. A painstaking analysis of CCTV footage followed as detectives attempted to piece together the events of that night.
It was as a result of their efforts that the suspects were identified and the missing murder weapon located, officers using a magnet to retrieve it from a drain where Myles had dumped it after the murder.
Both Myles and Barker were arrested on 1 September. At Myles’ home address officers found a knife concealed within a pile of jumpers.
In court Myles attempted to argue that the knife used during the murder had in fact belonged to Kai and that he had simply wrestled it from him in fear for his life. But Barker was also seen to be in possession of a knife and after the stabbing Myles took great care to dispose of the weapon, throwing it down the drain on a quiet street. Crucially, Myles failed to mention when interviewed by police that he had acted in self-defence.
