British MMA fighter, The Nightmare was hacked to death by his half-brother as he celebrated his 30th birthday.
Dwight Freeman, 19, from Vauxhall killed Jahreau “The Nightmare” Shepherd on July 11 2020 as he partied with friends in Kennington, south London. He then fled to Newquay in Cornwall, where he was spotted five days later.
A court heard that Jahreau Shepherd was celebrating with his family at a BBQ when Dwight Freeman, 19, began hacking at him with a machete.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and another count of wounding with intent.
On Monday, Judge Richard Marks QC sentenced Freeman to a hospital order without limit of time.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC outlined the facts of the case to the courtroom, where friends and family of the pair sat.
The victim was an “accomplished” MMA fighter who lived with his mother and half-brother, who was known as DJ, Carberry told the court.
Mr. Shepherd behaved like a “father figure” to his younger brother, and tried to get him to “fix up and be better” and “stop smoking skunk cannabis” – but the defendant at times had been “physically imposing” and there were issued between the siblings, the court heard.
In the six months before the murder, Freeman had been suffering from mood swings and had left his mother “terrified” when she woke up to find him staring at her at the foot of the bed.
An appointment was made for him to see his GP, but he had failed to attend.
On the evening of the killing, Mr. Shepherd held a birthday party and barbecue in a park, where around 60 guests were invited.
He had told them that the dress code was to wear white – but Freeman arrived at around 10pm wearing black and with his hood up.
Numerous friends looked on as he carried out a “terrifying, sustained and unprovoked attack with a large knife or knives”, Ms. Carberry said.
Mr. Shepherd suffered 13 wounds in total, including to his back, shoulder, thigh, face, and stomach, with the two fatal injuries being around 19cm deep.
Freeman only stopped the frenzied attack when a bottle was thrown at him, causing him to drop one of the weapons.
When 26-year-old Joel Belgrave tried to intervene, he was also stabbed and suffered a punctured lung.
Freeman fled the scene, discarding a knife under a car, and went on the run in the west country.
