A 30-year-old man has been arrested over the murder of teenager Tanesha Melbourne-Blake, in Tottenham, north London. 

The 17-year-old was killed in a drive-by attack as she sat chatting with friends on Monday night.

The suspect was arrested in the Homerton area of east London on Friday morning on suspicion of murder, a Met Police spokesman said. 

He added: “He was taken to a London police station and remains in custody.”

Detective Inspector Beverley Kofi, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “We are appealing to anybody who witnessed the incident and has not yet come forward, or who in the hours since this shocking murder are privy to information that could help us find those responsible. 

“You may be fearful of repercussions of speaking to police, or have loyalties that you believe can’t be compromised. We are dealing with the fatal shooting of a teenage girl, and would implore you to do the right thing and come forward.”

Her godmother, Lisa Robinson, told HuffPost UK: “I’ve known Tanesha since she was a baby, I held her as a newborn in my arms.

“It’s beyond a shock. It’s a loss of talent, a beautiful young woman who had her aspirations to be successful youth worker, beautician, she’s a lovely, bubbly young lady and her life was cut too short. It’s a cliché to say but something desperately needs to be done.”

Schoolfriend Candice Hassan, 17, said Tanesha was “in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everyone knows Tanesha, she’s just a humble girl. It was just the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn’t deserve any of that.”

Tanesha’s mother, who watched her daughter’s life slip away, laid flowers at the scene on Tuesday, with a card reading: “To my baby Nesha. I’m gonna miss you so much, you’re always gonna be with me everywhere I go.” It was signed “Love Mummy”.

It emerged on Thursday that the Met has opened 55 murder investigations in London this year and there were six non-fatal stabbings from Thursday night into Friday morning in the capital.