A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Newcastle teenager Ekam Sahni, two days after he was killed in a brazen drive-by shooting at a popular beach spot in Newcastle.
Decklen Deaves-Thornton was arrested at Newcastle Police Station on Friday morning, and was interviewed by police before being formally charged this afternoon.
Ekam Sahni was killed in a shooting in Newcastle.Credit: Facebook
He has been refused bail and will appear before Parramatta local court on Saturday. Deaves-Thornton is not expected to put forward a bail application, his lawyer Mark Ramsland has confirmed.
Sahni was accompanied by members of the “WE2H8TED” car enthusiast group at the Bar Beach car park in Newcastle when Deaves-Thornton allegedly opened fire and fatally shot him. This occurred after his club engaged in a brawl with another group.
The SUV alleged to have been used in the shooting was found on fire in Croudace Road, Tingira Heights, 13 kilometres south-west of the car park, 20 minutes after the incident occurred.
Deaves-Thornton turned himself into police on Friday morning, after approaching Ramsland for legal representation on Thursday. The murder charge followed inquiries after his arrest.
Police are continuing to probe any connection between Sahni and Deaves-Thornton, including if they were known to each other at the time of the incident.
Witness Nick Brown confirmed that Sahni was involved in an altercation with another group before the shooting, but said that the respective parties had “cuddled” and shaken hands before a man watching from another vehicle approached and started shooting with a large rifle-style gun.
Witness Nick Brown.Credit: Nine
After shooting the 18-year-old, the gunman allegedly told another man with him to “kill these dogs”. A third man remained in the car, Brown said.
“I just ran for my life … I ran really fast, and I jumped on the grass, and I was rolling down.
“I’ve never run that fast … I just kept running. I was going to get shot as well.”
NSW Police acting Superintendent Steve Benson said on Thursday they suspected the shooting was not linked to the earlier altercation, but it was not clear if the shooting was targeted or a random attack.
“It’s a senseless incident,” Benson said.
“This is an incident that the community won’t stand for and I can assure the community of Newcastle that there are a large number of resources allocated to this investigation to both identify and bring the offenders to justice.”
The “W2H8TED” Newcastle-based car club has more than 1000 members in its private Facebook group, which described itself as a “car group for the hated family friendly”.
The group’s Instagram page regularly posts images of members’ vehicles in various parts of Newcastle, including outside petrol stations and shopping centres.
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