Battersea murder: Britain's Got Talent singer Simonne Kerr, whose son died aged six, named as woman stabbed to death in south London

Simonne Kerr worked as a haematology nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London
Simonne Kerr / Facebook
Tom Powell16 August 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A woman stabbed to death in south London has been named as a singer who starred on Britain’s Got Talent as part of an NHS choir following the death of her six-year-old son.

Simonne Kerr, a nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, was found suffering from knife wounds at a home in Battersea on Wednesday afternoon . She was pronounced dead soon after despite the efforts of paramedics.

The 31-year-old had appeared on Britain’s Got Talent months earlier as part of B Positive, an NHS choir set up for those affected by blood-related conditions.

Ms Kerr had previously revealed how her son Kavele died from sickle cell disease in 2015 at the age of six.

Simonne Kerr's son Kavele died from complications caused by sickle cell disease in 2015
PA

Her death marks the 90th murder investigation in the capital this year. Scotland Yard said a 40-year-old man called Demond Sylva had been charged with murder.

B Positive made it through to the Britain’s Got Talent final in June, where they moved the judges and audience to tears with a rendition of ‘Rise up’.

Ms Kerr joined the choir soon after the death of her son Kavele in order to raise awareness about blood conditions and the need for more donors.

In a blog on the NHS website, she said her son was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at birth but lived “as normal a life he could”.

B Positive Choir attend the MOBO Awards in 2017
Getty Images

She said he woke up at 5am one day with a high temperature and vomiting. “I gave Kavele medication and monitored him throughout the morning,” she said.

“However, he became more lethargic and I felt his condition was not improving so I called for an ambulance and was told we would have to wait up to 45 minutes. An hour later I telephoned 999 again because Kavele's breathing became more laboured.

“Kavele went into cardiac arrest approximately 20 - 30 minutes after several ambulance crews started to arrive. He did not recover and passed away in hospital several hours later."

Simonne Kerr was stabbed to death in Battersea (Twitter/Jo Kingman )
Twitter/Jo Kingman

In the post, the nurse added that she wanted more black people specifically to come forward as blood donors.

She added: “Singing can be such an uplifting experience so joining the B Positive choir seemed the obvious way to raise awareness of the urgent need for more young and black people to give blood while doing something positive and motivational.”

A Britain's Got Talent spokesman offered condolences to her family, and added: "We are deeply saddened and shocked to hear that Simonne Kerr has died."

Police said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the investigation into her murder.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting CAD 3183/15Aug or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in