Ndella Jack, who was 18, died in a hail of bullets as she lay on her bed talking to her friend on the phone at home in Råcksta, Sweden, on August 28 last year, reported Expressen.
The news outlet said it was Jack’s 33-year-old husband—who has not been named—who was being targeted by the gunmen who struck at the couple’s home firing bullets through the window as part of an ongoing feud.
Jack was hit by at least 19 bullets and is believed to have died almost instantly while her husband was in another room and escaped the assault unscathed.
Now Geankarlo Garcia Barrera, who had been best man at Jack’s wedding just 12 days earlier, has been jailed for his part in the killing.
The 23-year-old has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for aiding and abetting the murder of Jack and aiding and abetting a shooting in Nacka against her husband two weeks later.
The other best man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for aiding and abetting Jack’s murder. His name has not been revealed.
A court in Sweden heard that the group had been together in Gambia for Jack’s wedding but a row had broken out between the groom and Barrera.
Expressen reported that Barrera had been friends with Jack’s husband for a long time.
Barrera belonged to a criminal network based in Brandbergen, in southern Stockholm, and withdrew money for the network, reported the media outlet.
However, following an argument at the wedding, Barrera and the other best man left early.
When back in Sweden, Jack’s husband met up with some associates of Barrera at a restaurant at Skanstull in Stockholm on August 27.
Expressen reported that the meeting began at 9 p.m. but there was a further argument and Jack’s husband fled after being threatened with a gun.
Barrera was not present at the meeting but after being told a war had been declared between Jack’s husband and the network, he was contacted and chose to act directly with the other best man, reported Expressen.
Shortly after midnight, while Jack was talking via Facetime with a friend, bullets began flying through the window of the apartment hitting the teenager as the killers aimed at the bed.
In Solna District Court, the two men were completely acquitted of involvement in the shooting in Råcksta, but now the Svea Court of Appeal has ruled there is sufficient evidence to convict both of aiding and abetting the murder of Jack and aiding and abetting the attempted murder of her husband at Råckstaskjutningen.
The other best man was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for that shooting, reported Expressen.