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London knife attack victim pleaded for mother
The latest teenage victim of London's knife crime crisis was chased like an animal and left pleading for his mother as he lay dying in the street.
- Evening Standard
- Published: 23:14 July 5, 2008
London: The latest teenage victim of London's knife crime crisis was chased like an animal and left pleading for his mother as he lay dying in the street.
Shakilus Townsend, 16, died last week after a daylight gang attack, which a senior detective described as "another senseless incident in which a young life has been taken away by a knife".
The teenager is believed to have been stabbed five times in the chest and stomach after being chased by up to six youths wearing masks and hoods. At least one girl was among them. Police later found a blood-covered knife in a nearby bush in Thornton Heath.
Witnesses to the attack in Beulah Crescent, Thornton Heath, described how they desperately tried to save Shakilus.
Dee Bamina, 35, said: "I tried to ask him his name and to tell him to calm down and lie down because he was trying to get up and go." She said the boy was saying, "I don't want to die" and "Where's my mum? I want my mum."
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