The Metropolitan Police has apologised over its investigation into the death of American drag artist Steven Grygelko, aka Heklina, who was found dead at a flat in Soho, London, by their friend Joshua Grannell aka Peaches Christ in April 2023.
No official cause of death has ever been released for the performer and detectives are still trying to determine what happened.
Met Police issued a public appeal last month to find three men they wanted to speak to who may have “vital information” in relation to Mr Grygelko’s death.
Mr Grannell said he was “furious” it had taken almost two years for police to make a public appeal to find three men, who detectives say were at the flat hours before Mr Grygelko was discovered. Detectives only released CCTV footage last month of three men who may have “vital information” about what happened.
Mr Grygelko, 55, and Mr Grannell had been staying in London preparing to put on a performance of their drag parody show Mommie Queerest at Soho Theatre.
Mr Grannell criticised the police for failing to keep him and Mr Grygelko’s next of kin informed over the investigation.
“When I left London they had assigned me with a family liaison officer. They convinced me that we would be updated weekly, that we would be included in the process, that we would be informed of anything.
“I got on that plane, and every email went unanswered for months and months. They just completely ignored us.”
Mr Grannell said they had still had not been officially told the cause of Mr Grygelko’s death, which is being treated as unexpected, and accused the Met of dismissing him and his friend as “trash”.
“I hate being the person who incorrectly would cry homophobia, if it’s not homophobia. But they have left me no choice.”
Mr Grannell found his friend’s body when he returned to their flat one morning and told officers he was “certain” that someone else had been there before he arrived.
“The door was not only not locked, but it wasn’t shut all the way.
“I went to put my key in, and the door just opened.”
Met Police said “a number of enquiries” had been made before police decided to issue the CCTV appeal.
A spokesperson for the force said: “Our thoughts remain with Steven’s friends who have many unanswered questions around his death. We pursued a number of enquiries first before issuing our latest appeal using CCTV footage.
“We appreciate Steven’s next of kin has been frustrated by the pace of the investigation and that we haven’t kept them updated throughout, we apologise and will be taking steps to correct this.
“More widely, we know the LGBTQ+ community are worried about Steven’s death and continue to speak to them to address wider concerns about the safety of LGBTQ+ people in London.”
Mr Grannell described his friend as a “trailblazer” who had opened the doors for many other drag artists.
“Heklina was maybe one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. She was dark and hilarious and what she didn’t want the world to know was that she was secretly kind.
“Quietly behind the scenes, she was constantly helping people out. But the deal was you couldn’t tell people.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.