Just after 5.30pm on Tuesday (24 June 2025), Leicestershire Police received a call that a white BMW 1 series had overturned on Aylestone Road near to the traffic light junction with Welford Rd and the Voco hotel.

Minutes later, the driver was seen to leave the vehicle before running down the middle of Aylestone Road towards the Leicester Royal Infirmary, where he then assaulted a female pedestrian in the street.

The victim, Nila Patel aged 56 years, was subjected to a serious assault and was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham with life threatening injuries. Sadly, she died from her injuries.

The driver was detained at the scene and was subsequently arrested by officers.

Michael Chuwuemeka, 23, of Dover Street, Leicester has since been charged with her murder.

Detective Inspector Emma Matts, from East Midlands Special Operations Unit Murder Investigation team has stated:

“Nila was sadly subjected to a serious assault and tragically she died from her injuries. Since the incident, a dedicated team of detectives have worked tirelessly to pursuing all lines of enquiry to establish the full circumstances around what happened. Those enquiries will very much continue as we now move the incident to a murder investigation."

“I would like to thank those members of the public who have contacted with information about what they saw but I would also still like to appeal to anyone who saw anything connected to this incident or filmed any footage - whether that was of the vehicle being driven beforehand through the city centre, the collision itself or the assault – and hasn’t spoken to officers to please get on touch.”

“Again, if you were driving a vehicle which has a dash cam, please check your vehicle to see if it has captured anything of use to the investigation. What you know could still be a crucial piece of information so please do not hesitate to pass that on.”

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