A close friend of Ricardo Cox has hit out at the “cowards” who gunned down the straight A student in cold blood.

A post mortem examination found Ricardo was shot twice in the upper body in Derby Road, West Croydon at around 9.20pm on Wednesday.

Paramedics fought to save his life at the scene but he was pronounced dead later that evening in hospital.

Dion Gibbs, who grew up in a notoriously crime ridden part of south central Los Angeles, Crenshaw Boulevard, paid his respects to the “kind”, “generous” and “brilliant person” he met four years ago.

The 23-year-old from Thornton Heath said: “I hadn’t seen Ricky for a couple of months but the last thing I expected to see was his face on the front of a newspaper saying he’d been shot.

“I met him about four years ago when I was going out with my ex-girlfriend who lived in the Handcroft Road Estate.

“We used to play football and basketball at the estate he was shot outside of.

“I just can’t believe this has happened to a guy who used to hate violence of any type, even petty arguments.”

Mr Gibbs likened the incident to something that would have happened in his old L.A neighbourhood where gang violence has been a problem for decades.

He said: “It is like the problems with the Bloods and the Crips and pretty soon England is going to be facing the same sought of trouble.

“People know who did this and they need to come forward and help the police with their investigation for the sake of his family.

“All they want is justice. No one deserves to go out like that, no one.”

Ricardo had been taking a gap year before he went to university to study IT.

Mr Gibbs added: “He was a great student and a great person.

“Ricardo was always an optimist and never had a bad thing to say about anyone.

“My only hope is that once the police find Ricky’s killers the judge sends them away for a long, long time.

“The criminal justice system in this country is shocking, they should try sending them to maximum security prisons in LA and see how tough they are then.”