Mother’s tears for 14-year-old murdered ‘in cold blood’
Mother’s tears for 14-year-old murdered ‘in cold blood’ after he was rammed off his bike and stabbed seven times as his family call for justice and say he was not involved in gangs
- Jayden Moodie was killed on Tuesday after he was rammed off his moped
- His family has said he had a keen interest in bikes and and loved sports
- Jayden’s mother Jada Bailey appeared at the press briefing in east London
- Cousin Leon Green said Jayden had an ‘infectious character’ and that people ‘fell in love with his charm’
The family of a 14-year-old boy who was murdered in ‘cold blood’ after he was rammed off his moped and stabbed have said he had ‘no affiliation with gangs’.
Jayden Moodie was rammed off a moped, then repeatedly stabbed on Tuesday 8 January in an area of east London that is said to be blighted by so-called county lines gangs that are known to exploit children.
In a statement to reporters on Thursday 10 January, Jayden’s cousin, Leon Green, said he had a keen interest in bikes, loved sports and was due to start at a boxing academy this month.
As he stood next to Jayden’s crying mother Jada Bailey, he complemented Jayden’s character and said his life had been ‘viciously taken away’.
Jayden’s mother Jada (left with cousin Leon Green) was moved to tears as the family read a statement to the press addressing Jayden’s (right) character
The family of Jayden Moodie address reporters: His cousin Leon Green (left) mother Jada (centre) and sister (right)
‘His character was infectious and anyone who met him fell in love with his charm.
‘He had a huge heart and would do anything for everyone, especially his family. He will be sincerely missed.
‘Jayden was a 14-year-old minor who had his whole life ahead of him, which should never have been viciously taken from him.’
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Jayden’s mother Jada Bailey (pictured above) was present as the family gave a statement to the press
Addressing reports that the murder may have been gang related, Mr Green said: ‘I would like to stress Jayden had recently moved from Nottingham to London and had absolutely no affiliation with gangs.
‘Focus needs to be on the fact that he has been brutally murdered in cold blood and deserves a fair chance at justice as much as anyone else in this situation.’
‘If there are people in our streets that are capable of killing a 14-year-old child, then no-one is safe, and they need to be caught and brought to justice.’
Jada Bailey (centre) had to be consoled by Leon Green (left) and Jayden’s sister (right)
Police, who believe the attack was ‘targeted and intent on lethal force from the outset’, have found the car thought to have been used by the three men who carried out the attack.
Chief Superintendent Richard Tucker has said he could not sleep for thinking about what had happened to such a young boy.
Youth worker Marcellus Baz, who is behind a Nottingham-based youth project called Switch Up, said Jayden and his mother had recently moved to London for a ‘new start’.
Jayden’s family have said he was not affiliated with gangs
Mr Baz, who said he met the youngster on a street known as a ‘hotspot for antisocial behaviour and knife crime’, told the BBC he ‘seemed like a really respectable, polite young man that had his life mapped out’.
‘He wanted to go down the construction, painting and decorating route,’ he said.
‘He looked like he was going to have a new start in London and do something amazing.’
The teenager was knocked off the moped he was riding by a black Mercedes B Class at around 6.30pm on Tuesday in Bickley Road, Leyton, and then stabbed several times by three attackers as he lay unconscious in the road.
The car was found on Wednesday in the nearby Carlisle Road area of Leyton, a few hundred metres away, and detectives are treating the discover as a ‘significant development’.
Mr Tucker said it was too early to ascertain a motive or say whether an incident a few streets away from the crime scene on Wednesday when a man was slashed across the face was linked.
He said: ‘The overriding factor is he’s 14 years old.
‘A lot of people are saying ‘young man’ – he’s not. He’s a boy. He’s 14.
‘It’s shocking, it’s an appalling event and this will have affected huge numbers of our young people and we’ve got additional officers in the area, and at schools, to actually reassure people that they are safe in east London.
Jayden’s family (pictured above mother and sister) have said he deserves a fair chance at justice
‘Whatever the reasons for his death, he was 14 years old and I would urge anyone who has any information to come forward and assist us to catch the people who did this horrific, horrific offence.’
A section 60 order was put in place to allow officers to search anyone in the vicinity of the scene for weapons.
Jayden’s godmother Zoe Grant, who lives in Nottingham, paid tribute to the 14-year-old by saying: ‘He was full of life, fun loving and a ray of sunshine.
The family addressed reporters from Leyton in East London, which is said to have been blighted by county lines gangs
‘He was a beautiful boy, so intelligent, had everything to live for.
‘He went to London and then this happens, it’s just so unfair.
‘He was very dearly loved by everybody.
‘Jayden was a good kid. 14 is no life, it’s not fair.’
A family friend, who gave his name as Solomon, said the schoolboy, a talented boxer, was a ‘wonderful’ and ‘loving’ child.
Describing himself as Jayden’s ‘acting grandfather’, he said the system was ‘really letting down the youth’.
‘They don’t come on the streets because they want to, they don’t have a choice,’ he said.
‘They need to be given a chance to breathe like everyone else in the world.’
In 2018, around a fifth (17%) of homicide victims in London were teenagers, most of whom were stabbed.
The youngest were aged 15.
The borough where Jayden died, Waltham Forest, has been blighted by gang crime, with the local authority ploughing £3 million over the next four years into a prevention programme.
Police patrols were stepped up in the wake of the murder.
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