A 14-year-old boy who was knifed to death on a London bus had shared a worrying message on Instagram just an hour beforehand.
Tributes now lie at a bus stop in Woolwich, South East London, after Kelyan Bokassa was stabbed on a route 472 double-decker at around 2.30pm on Tuesday and died a short time later despite the best efforts of paramedics. The Met Police have so far made no arrests and are appealing for information.
Witnesses have claimed to have seen two boys – including one wielding a “massive machete” – fleeing the scene. Kelyan was an aspiring drill rapper who used the stage name Grippa and he was killed in an area where gang warfare is prevalent. Just an hour before he died he posted a haunting message on Instagram.
Mum of schoolboy Kelyan Bokassa stabbed to death on bus makes four-word demand
An Instagram post shortly before Kelyan was stabbed
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Image:
grippa.18/Instagram)
Kelyan was an aspiring drill rapper
In the post, he asked if any of his followers had a “mindy” – street slang term for knife. He had released a track called ‘Bangers & Mash’ on Christmas Day with a video showing him pretending to wave a knife in the air while saying: “’I’m the shortest shooter on my block but I still roll with the longest ting’.
Kelyan made numerous references in the song to gangs and guns as well as saying “getting popped”. And Kelyan’s death came just three months after his 15-year-old pal Daejaun Campbell was killed with a blade nearby.
Kelyan grew up without his father and was taken into care four years ago. He ran away back to London twice. Documents show he was due in court last November on charges of possessing a machete in a public place on May 3 and he was also due to appear before Bromley magistrates.
The 14-year-old was killed on a bus in London on Tuesday
Kelyan Bokassa with his mum Mary
Kelyan, who had previously been convicted of possessing a Stanley knife at a bike shed, also faced charges of stealing from a shop and failing to surrender to court bail. There are fears he may have become involved in county lines drugs running operations.
He had just enjoyed his first day back at Newhaven School in Eltham, a referral unit, after the Christmas break on Tuesday afternoon and was on his way to see social workers by bus when he was attacked. Vince Seesarun, 31, a manager at a nearby estate agent, says he saw CCTV footage of two young men who he claimed “couldn’t even be 18” running away shortly after Kelyan was knifed.
Mary Bokassa went to see the tributes to her son
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Image:
Paddy Hill / Daily Mirror)
He said: “The footage basically shows two boys frantically running, no [face] coverings, massive machete about the size of my forearm.” Mr Seesarun added that the youths ran past one of the nearby block of flats and towards the Thames Path, beside the river, before hurrying out of view towards the Thames.
When they re-appeared in footage from a second camera, they no longer had the weapon, he claimed. He added: “They were just calmly walking – that was the craziest part. I’m sure people could recognise them because of their lack of disguise.”