Mum of student murdered in Brixton 31 years ago ‘still can’t visit his grave’
Share:
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. The mum of an engineering student who was stabbed to death in a ‘brutal and random’ attack 31 years ago is still so heartbroken she has been unable to visit his grave.
James Akinwande, 18, was stabbed severely and repeatedly in the chest and arm while on a night out in Brixton on January 16 1994. He was leaving the Vox nightclub when he was suddenly picked on by a gang of young men, who chased him down before launching their attack.
![[Detectives are offering a reward of up to ?20,000 for information to bring to justice the killers of a teenager in Brixton 31 years ago today. In the early hours of Sunday, 16 January 1994, 18-year-old James Akinwande left Vox nightclub in Brighton Terrace, SW9, following a music event with his friends. There were reports that altercations had taken place throughout the event, prompting James and his friends to leave and go home as the nightclub was closing early. At around 04:45hrs, James was singled out from his friends outside Boots The Chemist in Brixton Road. He was chased by a large group of young men before they beat and stabbed him.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236274561-9c4c.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=381)
Despite James being able to get away, one of his attackers severed an artery in his arm and he bled to death on the street outside of Boots. As the case has gone unsolved for 31 years, James’s family said their lives were turned ‘upside down’ and his mother is so heartbroken she has been unable to visit his grave.
James’s sister Victoria Tawiah told Metro: ‘His death just changed everything. Our mum is still so heartbroken she hasn’t been able to visit her son’s grave. ‘As a family we used to come to Brixton market every week, but we just can’t bear to come back to the area. We all had to move away.’.
His brother Johnson Abraham said he was only eight-years-old when James was murdered, but he will ‘never forget his mother’s devastation’. ‘I was next to her when she was told he was killed, I will never forget hearing her screams of grief,’ he said.
