Mother says murdered son, 14, was ‘groomed’ by gangs
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The mother of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on a bus has said he was groomed by gangs after running away from care and living on the streets. Aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa was fatally injured on a route 472 bus in Woolwich Church Street, close to the Woolwich Ferry, just before 2.30pm on Tuesday, in what police called a “horrendous” crime.
His mother Mary Bokassa told MailOnline: “My son and others were taken advantage by gangs. They were groomed. She went on: “He was missing for a year and was living on the street. He finally turned up at my doorstep, he was sick, underweight and tattooed … He was exposed to drugs. He probably experienced something because I could sense it.
“He was not himself. If I questioned him he wouldn’t tell me anything about his friends.”. Ms Bokassa said her son was kind and caring and liked football, adding: “I can’t believe he is gone. I cannot believe it.”. Tributes were paid to Kelyan online, with a number of messages featuring pictures of doves posted below a rap video on Instagram.
The clip, posted under the name Grippa, showed a masked figure wearing black and holding a microphone as he performs for the camera in an underground car park. He was “briefly” a pupil at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School in Bexleyheath, south-east London, in 2022.
