Tearful mourners gathered tonight carrying balloons and flowers at an emotional vigil in memory of 14-year-old London bus stabbing victim Kelyan Bokassa.
Teenage friends of the aspiring drill rapper lit candles at the front of St Mary Magdalene Church in Woolwich, which overlooks the bus stop where the schoolboy was knifed to death yesterday.
People could be seen wiping away tears as a moment of silence was held before one pal stood in front of a lectern to deliver a heartwarming tribute.
He told how Kelyan would ‘always be there for you’ saying: ‘He was a fun guy. He had a pure heart. He would always be there for you.’
The friend then joked about Kelyan eating ‘bare food’.
Around 35 mourners gathered at the church, which included local councillor Asli Mohammed and the Bishop of Woolwich Alistair Cutting.
Addressing the congregation, Reverend Jesse van der Valk said the service was ‘a time of reflection’ and that members of Kelyan’s family were also present.
Prayers and Bible readings along the themes of the importance of children, and protecting young people, were led by Rev van der Valk and Bishop Cutting.
Mourners gathered tonight carrying balloons and flowers at an emotional vigil in memory of 14-year-old London bus stabbing victim Kelyan Bokassa.
People could be seen wiping away tears as a moment of silence was held before one pal stood in front of a lectern to deliver a heartwarming tribute
Keylan’s friends hug at an emotional vigil tonight in memory of the schoolboy
MailOnline revealed today that Kelyan was due to appear at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Friday accused of bringing a machete into Ravensbourne College in Greenwich on May 3 last year.
Earlier his grieving mother Mary Bokassa, 50, sobbed as she revealed fears her ‘polite’ son had been groomed by gangs and exposed to drugs before he was ‘murdered’.
Kelyan, a drill rapper who went by the name ‘Grippa’, was stabbed in front of horrified passengers on a route 472 bus in Woolwich at around 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Fighting back tears, his heartbroken mother today told MailOnline: ‘He was very kind and caring. He cares about people and had a good sense of humour.
‘He was very polite. He was interested in football and was a supporter of Arsenal.’
Ms Bokassa said Kelyan had been taken into care four years ago but ‘kept running away’ and had lived rough on the streets for a year, where she feared he was preyed upon by criminals.
‘My son and others were taken advantage by gangs. They were groomed,’ Ms Bokassa told MailOnline from her home in south-east London.
Ms Bokassa added: ‘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.’
Friends of the aspiring drill rapper lit candles at the front of St Mary Magdalene Church in Woolwich, which overlooks the bus stop where the schoolboy was knifed to death
One friend told how Kelyan would ‘always be there for you’ saying: ‘He was a fun guy. He had a pure heart. He would always be there for you’
Bishop of Woolwich The Venerable Alastair Cutting speaking during the vigil where there were prayers and Bible readings
Friends light at candle at the front of the congregation in Keylan’s memory
Reverend Jesse Van Der Valk speaks during a vigil at St Mary Magdalene church in Woolwich
It’s feared Kelyan could have fallen victim to a ‘tit-for-tat’ gang clash over his role as a drill rapper, with his death coming after the murder of friend, Daejaun Campbell, 15, who was fatally stabbed in Woolwich in September.
In one of Kelyan’s music videos, released on Boxing Day just days before his murder, he is seen pretending to wave a knife in the air as he raps: ‘I’m the shortest shooter on my block but I still roll with the longest ting’.
Speaking of her son, Ms Bokassa added: ‘He was not himself. If I questioned him he wouldn’t tell me anything about his friends.
‘We had to chase him at night, he was in the Stratford area. We said to him we are here when you are ready to come home, it was at 1am.
‘I don’t know what he was doing or who he was with. He wouldn’t tell me. He got angry when I asked him.
‘He got himself in trouble with the law at that time.
‘There were eight police officers who were forcing him to go back to care. He was just bones.’
She said Kelyan had been sent to live with a Caribbean family but that after two years he was moved to Ocean Haven Children’s Home, in Deal, Kent.
An image from the scene after 14-year-old Kelyan was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich
Kelyan’s heartbroken mother, Mary Bokassa, wept as she revealed how she feared her son had been taken advantage of by grooming gangs
Kelyan is pictured with his mother, Mary, during a trip to the beach as a young boy
The teenager was stabbed in front of horrified passengers on a route 472 bus in Woolwich at around 2.30pm on Tuesday
Ms Bokassa is seen wiping away tears after bravely speaking to the press about her son’s killing
Kelyan was an aspiring musician, who filmed videos under the street name ‘Grippa’
Kelyan (pictured) was an aspiring gangster rapper named online as ‘Grippa’
Two police officers stand in front of a police cordon on Woolwich Church Road where the teenager was stabbed to death on Tuesday
Police guard a cordon after a teenager was fatally stabbed on a London bus on Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Footage posted to social media showed first responders performing first aid at the scene
Forensic officers were seen on board the double decker bus shining torches and gathering evidence on Tuesday
But she claimed the troubled teen kept running away.
‘He lived on the streets for a year after he ran away from the children’s home,’ she added. ‘But when he came home, he wrote graffiti on the balcony to say he loved me.’
Kelyan is said to have been on his way to Woolwich Town Hall to see his social worker on what was his first day back at school when he was stabbed to death.
Opening up about his past, Ms Bokassa revealed: ‘Last year Kelyan got in trouble. He had some problems with the law. But we were trying to sort it out.’
Heartbroken Mary told how she had spent her first Christmas with Kelyan in years after he had been taken into care.
She added: ‘I can’t believe he is gone. I cannot believe it.’
Police are continuing with their manhunt to trace Kelyan’s killer. No arrests have been made following the ‘horrendous’ and ‘barbaric’ attack.
