Teen charged after boy, 15, stabbed to death outside shopping centre in east London
Written by News on 13/10/2019
A 15-year-old has been charged with the murder of a boy in east London late last week.
Baptista Adjei, 15, from North Woolwich, was found critically injured on Stratford Broadway on Thursday afternoon.
He died just minutes later.
Police say Baptista and a friend, also 15, were attacked on a bus or shortly after leaving it.
Police said the suspect who handed himself in to an east London police station on Friday was charged with murder the following day.
He was also charged with grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to Baptista’s friend and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.
He is due to appear at Stratford Youth Court on Monday, 14 October.
Police and witnesses said the teenager’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, said her nephew was a “fun-loving boy”, who would “always make you laugh”.
She told the Evening Standard: “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.”
She added: “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.”
The teenager’s former football team, Mindset FC, tweeted that Baptista was a “very humble boy, with great manners and very talented”.
It added: “Dark moment at Mindset as one of our former players from the U16s last season went to sleep today at Stratford due to knife crime.
“All of us at Mindset have the family in our thoughts and prayers. RIP Bap.”
(c) Sky News 2019: Teen charged after boy, 15, stabbed to death outside shopping centre in east London
