Man appears in court charged with murder of Simonne Kerr, 31, who sang in NHS choir

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a nurse who performed on Britain’s Got Talent this year in an NHS choir.

Desmond Sylva, 40, is accused of fatally stabbing 31-year-old Simonne Kerr at her home in Battersea, south-west London.

Police were called shortly before 12.40pm on Wednesday to the Victorian terrace and Kerr was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sylva, who lives at the same address, appeared at Wimbledon magistrates court on Friday. He did not enter a plea and spoke only to confirm his details during the short hearing. He was remanded in custody and ordered to appear at the Old Bailey on 21 August.

Kerr, whose death sparked the 90th homicide investigation in the capital this year, was a haematology and oncology nurse at Guy’s hospital in central London. She appeared on the ITV talent show with the B Positive Choir this year, signing Rise Up, to encourage blood donations.

At the time she said the performances gave her strength after her six-year-old son Kavele died from sickle cell disease, a blood disorder, in 2015.

Kerr found out she was a carrier of the gene for sickle cell disease after a routine screening when she was 12 weeks’ pregnant with Kavele.

In an interview for the NHS’s Blood Donor website, she said Kavele died hours after waking up vomiting and with a high temperature.

“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,” she said.

“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.”