Boy, 15, stabbed to death near busy London shopping centre is named as knife violence continues
A 15-year-old schoolboy who was fatally stabbed after getting off a bus outside a McDonald's in east London, has been identified.
Baptista Adjei, from North Woolwich, was attacked on or after getting off a bus which had stopped close to the Stratford Shopping Centre in Stratford, east London.
He was one of two teenagers killed in the space of four hours in the capital on Thursday afternoon, with an 18-year-old knifed to death in Camberwell, south London.
Police and witnesses said the Baptista’s friends and passers-by rushed to help after he was knifed outside a McDonald’s at the shopping centre.
But police and paramedics found him with “critical injuries” and, despite battling to save his life, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 3.49pm.
Baptista’s aunt, Aretha Adjei, told the Evening Standard that her nephew was a “fun-loving boy, very popular with everyone in church”, who would “always make you laugh”.
She added: “He was a nice boy, the fact that he died in his school uniform is horrific.
“He had just finished school. He spoke to his mum on the phone about coming home after popping in to McDonald’s with a friend. Twenty minutes later he was stabbed to death.
“His mother is not coping well. She only has two children. You can’t imagine her pain. She keeps saying how she should have gone and picked him up.
“He was a fun-loving boy, very popular with everyone in church, everyone in the street knew him. He would come and put his arms around you. He would always make you laugh.
“No-one could say a bad word about him, he would never join a gang or a group. That’s not him.”
The two incidents bring the total number of teenagers murdered in the capital this year to 23.
It threatens the grim record of 29 teenagers, who were murdered in London in 2008.
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Detectives, who say the two murders are not linked, are appealing for witnesses to come forward in both incidents.
Police were first called to reports of a youth being stabbed outside Stratford Broadway near Tramway Avenue at 3.20pm Thursday.
Paramedics battled to save the teenager, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say his next of kin have been informed.
A second teenager, also 15, was also found with stab injuries and was taken to hospital. Police say his injuries are not life threatening.
One witness described the scene to the PA news agency.
They said: “At that moment there were not many people around him so I could see him all covered in blood. He was in pain and tried getting up.
“There were people around gathering. It was scary as you did not know if any of them could have had a knife too.”No arrests have been made.
DCI Chris Soole, who is leading the investigation said: “The victim of this stabbing was a schoolboy with his whole life ahead of him. He had everything to live for.
"This was a senseless attack and we share the concern and alarm this murder will no doubt cause in the local community.”
Just over four hours later police were called to the Brandon Estate in Camberwell where an 18-year-old was found with multiple knife wounds.
He was pronounced dead at the scene just before 9.15pm.
