Mother prays at murder scene as family says farewell to Kwame

The mother of Kwame Ofosu-Asare dropped to her knees in grief today as she visited the spot where the churchgoing teenager was stabbed to death in an apparently random “postcode” killing.

Nana Konto later said: “In times like these the best I could do was to go down on my knees and offer a prayer to God.”

She, Kwame’s father, Kwaku, and about 30 relatives and close friends paid their respects at the Moorlands Estate in Brixton before the funeral of the 17-year-old A-level student.

The family were joined by a bishop who pleaded for an end to gun and knife crime in the capital.

Kwame, a keen footballer and actor from Hither Green, was killed on March 2. The teenager, who “detested gangs”, was on his way to visit a friend’s aunt in Brixton after recording a track at a music studio when he was knifed repeatedly.

Speaking before today’s service, attended by hundreds of mourners, Kwame’s father,Kwaku, a Ghanaian sports broadcaster and PhD graduate, said: “We’re all distraught and we’re mourning.

“It hasn’t been easy, especially yesterday when we went to the undertakers and the body was there. It was heartbreaking and very difficult to see him lying in his coffin.

''You just bear up as best you can. We’re determined to give him a fitting burial.”

In the cul de sac where Kwame died, Bishop Kwaku Frimpong-Mason said: “Knife and gun crime in London has to come to an end. It is destroying our communities.”

Kwame was born in Ghana but grew up in London.

At Brownhill Road Baptist Church in Hither Green, where Kwame worshipped, a Union Jack and Ghanaian flag were hoisted together to mark the “universal” nature of the service.

The congregation included his family, school friends, teachers, football coaches, the Ghanaian ambassador to Britain, Labour peer Lord Boateng, Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock and local MP Heidi Alexander.

The coffin was covered with a traditional Ghanaian kenti cloth with a single rose laid on top. Among the mourners was thought to be the friend whose aunt the pair were on their way to visit in Brixton.

Last month, Mr Ofosu-Asare told the Standard that in the weeks after Kwame’s death not a single British politician contacted him, leaving it to the Ghanaian vice-president and the country’s high commissioner in the UK to offer their support.

Reverend Michael Kendall, the pastor of Brownhill Road Baptist Church said: “Over the three years I knew Kwame, he grew into a fine young man.”

Hymns today included Abide with Me and How Sweet the Name Jesus Sounds.

Writing in the order of service, Kwame’s mother, who lives in New York, spoke of the moment she was told of her son’s death.

She said: “I was overwhelmed with grief when I heard the news about the death of my beloved son.

“In times like these the best I could do was to go down on my knees and offer a prayer to God, because he knows why such an awful death as this could happen.”

Kwame’s brother, Kofi, wrote: “It feels like I’m in a deep, long-lasting dream, waiting for you to wake me up to ask to wear my jacket or something.”

Nathaniel Okusanya, 18, from Lambeth appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on 2 April charged with murder. He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 9 July. A 17-year-old male youth has also been charged with murder.