An entrepreneur who was friends with footballer Mario Balotelli has died after being found with a fatal stab wound to the heart in his luxury flat. Mayowa Ogunbayo, 29, also known as Johnny John, was found by paramedics suffering injuries inside the flat he shared with his fiancée in Park Royal, west London. Police are now trying to establish the “full circumstances” of how he died after a post mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the heart.
Scotland Yard said a 21-year-old woman at the property in Lakeside Drive had been arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder following the incident in the early hours of Friday. Murder squad detectives are investigating but the Met say they are treating the death as “unexplained” and the woman has been released on bail pending further enquiries. It is understood officers are trying to work out whether or not the injuries may have been self-inflicted.
Promoter Mr Ogunbayo is said to have proposed to his professional dancer girlfriend in May. The couple lived in Royal Waterside, a purpose-built development near Hanger Lane, where two-bedroom apartments sell for £550,000. Mr Ogunbayo grew up in Osogbo, Nigeria before moving to London with his mother and three sisters to study at college. He eventually set up his own entertainment company after working for five-star hotels across central London whilst graduating from The University of Kent, friends said. He lived a luxury lifestyle and was often pictured with sports cars.
Facebook posts show him driving in a car with former Liverpool and Manchester City striker Balotelli, cracking jokes, and also posing together in a number of photographs. Other pictures show him hanging out backstage at the Royal Albert Hall with Nigerian singer Wizkid, as well as with former Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins. Close friend Ayodele Samson today paid tribute to “the respectful gentleman” he went to school with. He said: “Mayowa was always very obedient and respectful.
“He loved the people around him and he was very loyal. He never looked down on people even when he got rich. “The thing I liked about him is he didn’t drink or smoke he was always comfortable with water when he went to parties. “He was looking his whole life for a good lady to settle down with and make his wife. He wanted a family more than anything. He was friends with so many stars in Nigeria and the world simply by being a social guy. We can’t believe this has happened, he was a complete gentleman.”
Mr Samson added: “He always made it clear to me that Mario Balotelli was a great guy and also very friendly. He said that I shouldn’t pay attention to his attitude on the pitch which led some people to criticise him. He was nothing like it off the field.”
Another friend Oyedokun Mosh told the Standard: “He was a young icon for Nigerians and was so hard working. “His death is a great loss to the entertainment industry. “He was so humble, even though he got successful he always kept his feet on the ground.”A spokesman for the Met said: “At this time the death is being treated as unexplained. A 21-year-woman who was at the scene when officers arrived has been arrested on suspicion of murder. She was taken to a north London police station and has been bailed pending further enquiries to a date in mid-November.”
Source: Evening Standard
