Two teens, 16 & 15, and woman, 44, arrested after schoolboy, 14, stabbed to death on bus in ‘horrendous attack’
TWO teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after schoolboy Kelyan Bokassa was killed.
A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were arrested today and they both remain in custody, cops have confirmed.
A 44-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, she also remains in custody.
Police had been called to a stabbing on a bus in Woolwich, southeast London at just before 2.30pm on January 7.
The incident occurred on a Route 472 bus on Woolwich Church Street near the junction with the A205 South Circular Road.
Officers attended, along with London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance.
Paramedics treated 14-year-old Kelyan at the scene who had received stab wound injuries, but he sadly died shortly after medics arrived.
His family are being supported by specialist officers.
The investigation remains on-going.
Last week, the victim's heartbroken mum opened up about how her son had been targeted by gangs from the age of 6.
Most read in The Sun
Mary told the Sun on Sunday how she would track him down to park benches in the middle of the night and beg him to come home — but he was too scared his handlers would kill him.
The devastated mum, 50, added: “I tried to prevent it. I screamed. I said, ‘My son is going to be killed’.”
Keylan was taken into care four years ago - with Mary taking legal action to get him back, but without success.
Originally from the Central African Republic, she moved to London from France where she had Kelyan and brought him up on her own.
After Kelyan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at six, there was an arson attack on their home and eventually at ten he was taken into care.
Mary says: “I was moved from one place to another by the council. The properties were not suitable for me and my son but it was all they had.
“Then our flat was set on fire. We had to run away from the flames.
“And that is when he was taken into care against my wishes. He was so unhappy that he frequently ran away. Kelyan had no choice but to find a family and that was the streets.
“I begged for contact with my son. I had to get the support of a lawyer.
“The separation was extremely harsh on his mental health.
“At one point he was missing for a year and was living on the street. He finally turned up at my doorstep, sick, underweight and tattooed.
“If I questioned him he wouldn’t tell me anything about his friends."
Mary remembers he had turned into a ghost-like figure.
She said: “We had to chase him at night, and we found him on a bench in the Stratford area.
“We said to him, ‘We are here when you are ready to come home’.
“He wouldn’t tell me what he was doing or who he was with.
“I wanted him to come back with me, but he would not listen. He was damaged. He had been taken from me.”
POLICE
Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee said: “While these arrests mark a significant step forward in this investigation, we continue to appeal for anyone with information about Keylan’s murder to come forward and speak to us.
“I would like to thank officers for working around the clock in order to locate our suspects and praise the Woolwich community for their on-going support and patience whilst we have carried out our investigation.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"I know that this incident deeply affected you all, and I hope that these two arrests reassure you that we are doing everything to tackle violent offenders across London.”
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to call 101, quoting the reference 3795/07Jan.
