Police were called at 9.28pm on Friday, 9 October to reports of an assault on Southdown Crescent, IG2.
Officers attended and found a man, aged 34, suffering from stab injuries. They immediately provided first aid. Despite their efforts, and that of the London Ambulance Service, the man was pronounced dead at the scene at 22:31hrs.
The man has been formally identified as Lee Baxter, a father-of-four. His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.
A post-mortem examination found that Lee died from multiple stab wounds.
At this early stage, homicide detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command believe he was stabbed in an alleyway by a group of men following an argument, who fled the scene. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the exact circumstances of the incident.
A car, believed to be a dark-coloured Nissan Juke, was seen in the area around the time of the attack, and police would like to speak to the driver, who they believe may be able to help them with their enquiries.
Detective Chief Inspector David Hillier, said: “This was a brutal attack, and we are conducting extensive enquiries to understand exactly what happened on the night of Lee’s death.
“I am releasing an image of a car that was seen in that area around the time of Lee’s death, and would urge the driver to come forward as they may have witnessed or heard something and could help us piece together what happened.
“Often people have no idea that they may hold valuable information, or think that something they have seen or heard is not important. That’s why I’m asking the driver to please get in touch, as they could hold vital clues but not realise it. If they don’t want to talk to us, they can always speak anonymously to Crimestoppers.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police via 101 quoting reference 7789/09Oct.
