British police have arrested three suspects in connection with the fatal stabbing of British-Nigerian musician Talay Riley, as the Metropolitan Police formally open their investigation into his death.
Riley, whose real name is Mark Orabiyi, died after being stabbed multiple times at a home on Rayleigh Road in London on Friday. Officers and paramedics arrived finding him critically injured in the garden of the property. Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three suspects, two men and a woman, were arrested shortly after the attack. However, not all remain in custody. A 27-year-old man has been released on bail pending further inquiries, while a 24-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were released after questioning with no further action taken. The circumstances surrounding the attack remain under active investigation and detectives continuing to piece together what led to the fatal confrontation.
In a detail not earlier reported, a second victim, a 20-year-old man, sustained multiple stab wounds during the same incident and was taken to hospital, where his condition has been described as non-life-threatening. Police say his account could be crucial to understanding what happened.
The stabbing happened Friday morning in a quiet East London residential street, which makes it hit harder. This wasn’t a late-night incident in a club or somewhere unfamiliar. It was daylight, in a neighbourhood, and it took the life of a man who spent nearly 20 years quietly shaping some of the biggest music of his era.
Specialist officers have been deployed to support Riley’s grieving family, while formal identification procedures remain underway. In a statement, his family described him as a loving son, brother, uncle and friend whose warmth, kindness and artistic talent left a deep impression on everyone who knew him.
His brother Scribz Riley said they’d spoken the night before about the future, staying positive, and all they still wanted to do.. That final conversation, ordinary in every way it was intended to be, has taken on a weight that no words can adequately carry.
Riley was 35. He had spent 17 years building a career that took him from a publishing deal at 18 to Grammy-winning collaborations with artists including Usher, Kehlani, Khalid and H.E.R. He toured alongside Skepta. He wrote songs that other people became famous for. Most of the world is only now learning his name.
The investigation continues.
