Four charged with Shakilus murder

Shakilus called for his mother after he was stabbed, witnesses said

Four teenagers have been charged with the murder of 16-year-old Shakilus Townsend in south London.

Shakilus, from Deptford, was beaten with a baseball bat and repeatedly stabbed in Thornton Heath on 3 July.

Tyrell Ellis, 18, of Thornton Heath, two male youths aged 17 and 16, and a 15-year-old girl have been charged with murder. A man aged 22 has been bailed.

Shakilus is one of 19 youths to have died after being shot or stabbed in London this year.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said all four were remanded in custody and would appear at Sutton Magistrates' Court on Thursday morning.

The spokesman added that a fifth person who was arrested, a 22-year-old man, has been bailed to return to a police station in south London in August, pending further investigations.

After the stabbing, local residents dragged Shakilus into the communal doorway of their building where they tried desperately to save him.

Witnesses said he called out, "I don't want to die" and "where's my mum, I want my mum". He died the following day.