The mother of a teenager who was stabbed to death on a bus emotionally told a court she may “never recover” from the loss of her son.
Aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa called, “I want my mum” after he was mortally wounded in front of horrified passengers aboard a route 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on 7 January.
He was stabbed around 27 times in the attack that lasted around 14 seconds.
Two youths, aged 16, appeared at the Old Bailey to be sentenced on Friday after they pleaded guilty to Kelyan’s murder and having a knife.
In a moving victim impact statement, Kelyan’s mother Marie Bokassa said: “I stand here not just as a mother but as a broken soul whose life changed forever the day my child’s life was taken from me by another child.”
Speaking through tears and wearing black, she added: “At least my son is at peace, and those two kids are going to have a really tough time.
“I ask myself what has happened to those two boys that has resulted in that terrible act of violence and I cannot imagine how can they be so angry.
“What they did was horrific and I do not know what has led them to do this and maybe I will never.”
“That moment of violence may have lasted seconds but its consequences are eternal,” Ms Bokassa said.
She told the court her son had loved food, cooking and football and brought her flowers on her birthday.
“He would put music on and we’d dance together in the living room,” she said.
“He loved Mr Bean, which we watched together, and he would laugh. I miss his laugh, miss his voice.
“I will never see his children or be a grandmother and he will never have his own family.”
Ms Bokassa added that she had spent her son’s 15th birthday at his graveside and that she missed everything about him.
She said that some people in her neighbourhood cannot look at her and she is petrified to take public transport, particularly the 472 bus.
“I feel judged,” Ms Bokassa added.
“Maybe I will never recover, all I know is I will live and I will have to be strong for my son and I will have to constantly find a coping mechanism,” she continued.
“He would want me to try and solve youth crime and not give up on my life.
“My son loved me and would want me to go on with my life.
“These two young boys took my son’s life without hesitation, they will now have to face the consequences of their actions here today.
“My only hope is they get the help they need before they ever get released into society.”
In a statement, Kelyan’s father, Hashim Mohamed, said his son’s death had prompted him and his wife to consider “youth violence” and to “think politically” about knife crime.
“I never expected Kelyan’s life to end tragically, to the contrary I believed he would one day thrive as an elite athlete or even as a creative,” he wrote in a statement read out on his behalf by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC.
The hearing was attended by around 20 members of the public, who filled the public gallery, all of whom wore black while some hid their faces and sobbed loudly as CCTV footage of the attack was shown to the court.
Kelyan’s mother left the hearing briefly while the video of her son’s murder was played.
