Chris Kaba told a friend the police were behind him minutes before he was shot dead through the windscreen of his car by a firearms officer, a court has heard.
Elisha Fizul called the 24-year-old on WhatsApp 10 minutes before he was killed by Martyn Blake during a police stop in Streatham, south London, the Old Bailey was told.
His last words before they lost contact were “Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me”, jurors heard.
In a statement read to the court on Friday, Ms Fizul said she had been friends with Mr Kaba for about two years before the fatal incident on September 5 2022.
She said: “I called Chris by WhatsApp at 20.00 on September 5. Unfortunately, he did not answer my call right away.
“Chris returned my call at 21.57. Chris told me that he was driving at the time he returned my call. I was at home.
“Chris and I were having a normal conversation as were discussing our lives.
“At some stage during the course of the conversation Chris stated ‘Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me’.
“I continued talking to Chris. Chris did not respond and it was at that stage that I realised the call had been muted at Chris’s end.
“I did not hang up the call right away. I continued to ask ‘can you hear me’, and ‘take me off mute’. The call ended at 22.07.
“I redialled within seconds to see if he would answer. He did not. I assumed Chris would call me back within 10 minutes but he did not.
“I found out the following morning that Chris had passed away. I was and still am very shocked and saddened by Chris’s death.”
Jurors have heard how Mr Kaba was shot in the forehead at 10.07pm as he sat in the driver’s seat of an Audi car which had been linked to a gun incident in Brixton the night before.
Moments before, Mr Kaba had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors have heard.
Metropolitan Police firearms officer Blake, 40, has denied his murder.
The trial was adjourned until Monday, when Blake is expected to give evidence in his defence.
