Hundreds of people attend vigil for 14-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Birmingham, UK
Five people including three teenage boys have now been charged with murdering a lad outside a McDonald's amid fears a candlelight vigil in his honour could turn violent.Dea-John Reid, 14, was chased along the street then knifed in the chest at around 7.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday (31/5) in Kingstanding, Birmingham.On Sunday (6/6) police charged a 14-year-old boy from Wolverhampton and a 16-year-old boy from Great Barr with murder.They were remanded in custody and will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday (7/6). Five people, including another 14-year-old boy, of Solihull, have also been charged with murdering Dea-John.Michael Shields, 35, of Alvis Walk in Castle Bromwich, and George Khan, 38, of Newstead Road, Birmingham, will appear at court at a later date.Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Mobberley, of West Midlands Police, said: "This has been a fast-paced investigation where officers have worked diligently to identify those suspected of being involved in Dea-John's murder."We are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with his tragic death, although we're still keen to hear from anyone with information."Even though we've secured charges our enquiries around what happened last Monday remain ongoing. "I would like to thank the community who've been offering us great support for our investigation."We've kept Dea-John's family fully updated with developments during what has been an extremely traumatic time."The latest arrests comes as the family of Dea-John have appealed for calm following his tragic death. It follows social media rumours encouraging trouble in retribution for the teenager's murder this weekend.Dea-John's family have urged people to remain calm ahead of a planned vigil at the murder scene on Sunday evening.Family friend Patrice Mendez appeared alongside Dea-John's distraught mother Joan Morris and Dea-John's brother Kirk Bryan, and appealed for people to "regulate their emotions".She said: "We know people are angry, we understand that and we appreciate they have love to give and it's maybe coming from a good place."We're just asking people to regulate those emotions in a postive way so Dea-John's memory can live on in a postive way."We understand people are very angry, people are raw over the incident."We do not want another mother to go through what Joan is going through.
Joan has not eaten for days, her son has not eaten for days."We want as a family for everybody to come together, all races, everybody to stand in solidarity so we can start having these conversations (about knife crime)."We're planning to have a vigil on Sunday night at the spot Dea-John was murdered."What we want is for us to stand in solidarity with the community so bring peace and start having conversations."We are asking individuals who are planning to attend this vigil to come in peace, bring a candle, and just reflect."A 14-year-old boy has lost his life in a tragic way, we wouldn't wish that on anyone else."
Five people including three teenage boys have now been charged with murdering a lad outside a McDonald's amid fears a candlelight vigil in his honour could turn violent.Dea-John Reid, 14, was chased along the street then knifed in the chest at around 7.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday (31/5) in Kingstanding, Birmingham.On Sunday (6/6) police charged a 14-year-old boy from Wolverhampton and a 16-year-old boy from Great Barr with murder.They were remanded in custody and will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday (7/6).
Five people, including another 14-year-old boy, of Solihull, have also been charged with murdering Dea-John.Michael Shields, 35, of Alvis Walk in Castle Bromwich, and George Khan, 38, of Newstead Road, Birmingham, will appear at court at a later date.Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Mobberley, of West Midlands Police, said: "This has been a fast-paced investigation where officers have worked diligently to identify those suspected of being involved in Dea-John's murder."We are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with his tragic death, although we're still keen to hear from anyone with information."Even though we've secured charges our enquiries around what happened last Monday remain ongoing.
"I would like to thank the community who've been offering us great support for our investigation."We've kept Dea-John's family fully updated with developments during what has been an extremely traumatic time."The latest arrests comes as the family of Dea-John have appealed for calm following his tragic death.
It follows social media rumours encouraging trouble in retribution for the teenager's murder this weekend.Dea-John's family have urged people to remain calm ahead of a planned vigil at the murder scene on Sunday evening.Family friend Patrice Mendez appeared alongside Dea-John's distraught mother Joan Morris and Dea-John's brother Kirk Bryan, and appealed for people to "regulate their emotions".She said: "We know people are angry, we understand that and we appreciate they have love to give and it's maybe coming from a good place."We're just asking people to regulate those emotions in a postive way so Dea-John's memory can live on in a postive way."We understand people are very angry, people are raw over the incident."We do not want another mother to go through what Joan is going through.
Joan has not eaten for days, her son has not eaten for days."We want as a family for everybody to come together, all races, everybody to stand in solidarity so we can start having these conversations (about knife crime)."We're planning to have a vigil on Sunday night at the spot Dea-John was murdered."What we want is for us to stand in solidarity with the community so bring peace and start having conversations."We are asking individuals who are planning to attend this vigil to come in peace, bring a candle, and just reflect."A 14-year-old boy has lost his life in a tragic way, we wouldn't wish that on anyone else."
