Hundreds of mourners lined the streets to pay their respects to four family members who were killed in their own house.
Samantha Drummonds, 27, her mother Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, her grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, and Dolet’s partner Denton Burke, 58, were all found stabbed to death at a Bermondsey, South London, apartment.
Police were called to the home in the early hours of April 25 after complaints of a disturbance, and Joshua Jacques, 28, Ms Drummond’s partner, has been charged with four charges of murder.
The four family members were laid to rest yesterday at NTCG Brixton Community Church in a joint ceremony, followed by a committal at Camberwell New Cemetery.
Each member of the family had their own pall bearers and funeral conductor, and the hearses followed in a convoy to the church and cemetery.
Each of the funeral vehicles was decorated with flowers and had pictures of the four family members atop their coffins.
Samantha’s mother’s coffin was decorated with white roses and periwinkle blue flowers to match the photo of her standing near a cruise shop wearing a sparkly blue outfit, while Samantha’s coffin was surrounded by lilac and pink flowers.
White lilies were placed on the hearses of Dolet and her companion Denton’s coffins to match the couple’s portrait in a white dress and suit.
The grandmother, who was born in Lyssons, Saint Thomas, Jamaica, was undergoing cancer treatment and working at neighboring Guy’s Hospital when she was killed.
Two bouquets of cream flowers designed to spell out the word’mum’ were placed on top of the automobiles transporting Dolet and Tanysha, while a red and white arrangement spelling out ‘dad’ was placed on top of Denton’s vehicle.
Emotional family and friends wearing t-shirts with photos of the four victims watched as pall bearers brought the tragic family into the church in white caskets.
One woman could be seen wearing a shirt printed with the words: “Uncle, we may be miles apart but you will always be in our heart. Peace.”
While another mourner had a badge with an image of the four victims accompanied by the words: “In loving memory.”
Matthew Uden of W.Uden & Son’s Funeral Directors, who organised the ceremony, said: “It was an honour to conduct this large funeral for Dolet, Denton, Tanysha and Samantha today, I hope that we did them proud.
“In the 145 years that our family have been conducting funerals we have never cared for four people from the same family in one ceremony.
“It was an extremely sad occasion but also a celebration of their lives.
“The loss of any life is really hard to deal with but to lose four members from the same family under such tragic circumstance is truly heartbreaking.
“I’d like to thank their loved ones for allowing our family to care for their family.”
On July 19, Jacques will make his subsequent appearance at the Old Bailey in relation to the deaths.