A teenager accused of strangling his student girlfriend to death in a Barkingside flat is set to stand trial in July.
Ako Amin, 18, allegedly struck Cheryl Tariah over the head with a hammer before throttling her with his hands following an argument at his shared flat in High Street.
The 17-year-old victim lived in Dunloe Avenue, Tottenham, and studied art at Chelmsford College.
Her body was discovered after police were called to a disturbance above the Buy Labels for Less store in High Street, just before 4pm on February 7.
A postmortem gave the cause of death as compression of the neck.
Amin appeared at the Old Bailey today via videolink from Chelmsford young offenders institution for a short hearing before judge Nicholas Cooke.
He held his head in his hands throughout much of the hearing and spoke only to confirm his name.
A trial date was set for July 30.
Amin has yet to enter a plea to a single charge of murder.
He was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing on June 11.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here