Two teenagers have been arrested after a young man was stabbed to death in London on New Year’s Eve in one of the worst ever days for knife crime in the capital.
Kyall Parnell, 17, was attacked in front of horrified revellers on his way to a New Year’s Eve party and died in Tulse Hill, south London.
Police arrested two teenage boys, both aged 16, in connection to the killing on Thursday. One was arrested on suspicion of murder, the other on suspicion of violent disorder.
They remained in custody at police stations in south London today.
Mr Parnell suffered a single stab wound and died at the scene 22 minutes before midnight - one of four young men stabbed to death in just 15 hours.
A post-mortem examination on Tuesday gave a preliminary cause of death as a single stab wound to the heart, police said.
His mother Katrina paid tribute to her “amazing” son, who had recently enrolled on a bricklaying apprenticeship.
She said: “He was loved. This shouldn’t have happened. These boys need to stop doing what they’re doing.
“My boy was amazing, he was smart. He had potential to go places. They would be calling me and telling me he was the smartest boy in the class.
“He needed to be doing active things. He was good boy. These young boys need to stop and think, they need to look after each other. This is someone’s life.”
The killing brought the total number of teenagers violently killed in London last year to 26. Twenty of those were stabbed.
Following the spate of New Year violence, which also saw fatal stabbings in Enfield, West Ham and Islington, Deputy Met Commissioner Craig Mackey issued a “call to action” to Londoners to help tackle knife crime.
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