The mother of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on a bus in London has released a heartbreaking statement onknife crime in the wake of his killers being sentenced.
On Friday, two teenagers – both 16 – were jailed for life for the fatal attack on Kelyan Bokassa back in January.
The court heard the pair smiled as they attacked Kelyan on the top deck of the 472 bus in Woolwich.
He was stabbed 27 times while trying to defend himself with his school bag.
As he lay dying he called out “I want my mum,” the Old Bailey heard.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC told the pair – who cannot be named due to their age – they would be locked up for a least 15 years and 10 months before being eligible for parole.
Judge Lucraft said Kenyan's death was a "senseless loss" of yet another young life to the "horrors of knife crime".
CCTV footage showed Kelyan went to sit on the back seat on the top deck, with a knife in the waistband of his trousers.
Ms Heer said the teenager looked around and out of the windows before taking his seat "giving every impression that he was concerned for his safety".
The defendants boarded the bus 20 minutes later each armed with identical machetes hidden in their clothes.
The pair walked towards Kelyan "with purpose" and withdrew their blades before immediately stabbing him without uttering a word to their victim.
Ms Heer said: "Since Kelyan Bokassa was seated on the back seat, he was cornered, unable to escape as the defendants repeatedly thrust their knives towards him, smiling as they did so.
"The attack lasted around 14 seconds, with the youths thrusting the machetes towards Kelyan 27 times.
Ms Heer went on: "Kelyan Bokassa had no time to reach for his own knife, which remained in his trousers, and instead tried in vain to protect himself with his school bag.
"There were several other passengers on the top deck who fled in panic when they realised what was happening. They describe hearing intense screaming from the back of the bus and the victim shouting, 'Help. Help. I've been stabbed'.
"They describe both defendants making quick, forceful movements towards Kelyan Bokassa as he tried to defend himself.
"The bus driver activated his emergency alarm just before 2.27pm and the defendants fled when the vehicle stopped at Woolwich Ferry.
Kelyan stumbled down the aisle to the stairs, where another passenger went to help him.
The boy was heard to say: "Take me to my mum's. I want my mum," before his legs buckled, bleeding heavily from a wound to the leg.
Members of the public flagged down a passing police car and officers found Kelyan had collapsed and his body was limp.
Despite attempts to save him, Kelyan died at the scene at 3.23pm.
Marie Bokassa, Kelyan’s mother, said: “My child had a name, it was Kelyan, a future, a heartbeat full of hope.
"That life was not theirs to take.
"That moment of violence may have lasted seconds, but the consequences are eternal. They didn’t just take a life; they shattered an entire world.
"They broke a family, they buried a future, and they left me, a mother dead inside with wounds no justice can ever heal.
“To the young people who carry knives, I beg you to stop, before you raise that blade, think of your own mother, think of the mothers who will cry every night like I do, who will scream into her pillow, who will walk past her child’s empty room and collapse with grief.
"Don’t let a moment of anger steal your future. Don’t let the streets raise you in a way your mother never would.
“Knife crime is not just statistics to us, its caskets, flowers, funerals. Our children being buried before their parents.”
