Stabbed to death: Kodjo Yenga was chased by a gang of boys wearing school uniform
Friends pay tribute to Kodjo, the 'fallen soldier'
A schoolboy was stabbed to death in the street after a gang of boys and girls chased him chanting, "Kill him, kill him".
Kodjo was stabbed at 5.30pm on Wednesday in Hammersmith Grove, near Shepherd's Bush, While walking with his girlfriend. The couple had been walking back from Hammersmith after having dinner with her mother and had picked up her pet dog, she said. She claimed a stranger had approached Kodjo in the street and challenged him to a fight.
At first he refused but eventually told the other boy: "Come on, let's do this then".
The pair started fighting on Hammersmith Grove before seven or eight other teenagers armed with knives, hammers and bats appeared and joined in, she said.
Kodjo Yenga, 16, was left dying in a pool of blood after being stabbed and beated.
He was taken by ambulance to Charing Cross Hospital in a critical condition and died less than an hour later.
Four youths are due to appear in court charged with the his murder.
The teenagers, two aged 13, one aged 15 and a fourth aged 16, will appear at West London Magistrates' Court.
They are charged with murdering Kodjo, of Portland Road, west London, on Wednesday evening March 14th 2007, in Hammersmith Grove.
Kodjo's mother Ladjua has paid tribute to her "beautiful, polite and loving" son.
She said: "Kodjo was a beautiful boy, very polite and loving. I loved him so much.
"He was ambitious, studied hard and was making something of his life. He wanted to go into TV and design and be a success. I just need to know why he was killed. I won't rest until I have the answers.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said the seven youths in custody over Kodjo's death were all blacks.
The killing follows the deaths of four boys in a fortnight of gangrelated violence in London last month.
What is our world turning into? I'm speechless.
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