The father of a teenage musician stabbed to death at a house party today paid tribute to his “talented and intelligent” son, as a 15-year-old was due in court charged with his murder.
Leoandro Osemeke was attacked in Colgrove Road, Peckham, at 7.15pm on Friday, a week after celebrating his 16th birthday.
His family has been devastated by his death, which came days before they were due to go to Nigeria on holiday.
His father Emmanuel said: “We are in mourning. We will all miss Leoandro deeply. He was highly talented and intelligent and loved by so many.
“There have been many people at our home paying their respects. We cannot understand why this has happened.
“My son was a wonderful boy and never in any trouble. He was heading for a career in music, he was a great writer and a true talent. He wanted to be remembered as a legend and he will be for us.”
Leoandro’s mother added: “He was an amazing son.”
Flowers have been left outside the Woodpecker community centre in New Cross, alongside bouquets for Leoandro’s friend Myron Yarde, 17, who was stabbed to death nearby in April.
His godbrother said: “People in the community wanted to pay tribute to them together because they were both good friends. We are all asking ourselves why this keeps happening.”
Leoandro, who released songs and mixtapes under the name Showkey, was a pupil at Addey and Stanhope School in New Cross and had been due to collect his GCSE results this month. He was planning to study music at college and had been tipped for success in the music industry.
Dajo Dele-Ojo, one of his former teachers, told the Standard: “I’m in complete shock. He was a good student and worked hard and had a real talent for music.
“I remember he was someone who other pupils looked up to, he was incredibly well-spoken, funny and charismatic.”
Mr Dele-Ojo, 24, added: “There were people you worried about in the school but he wasn’t one of them. He was an intelligent kid who I expected to excel in whatever he wanted to do, be that music or anything else. It’s just tragic this has happened.”
Leoandro, the sixth teenager to be killed in London this year, had recently released a tribute to his friend Myron, addressing the gangland lifestyle with the lyrics: “Is it really worth it?”
A teenager arrested in connection with Leoandro’s stabbing was last night charged with murder. He was due to appear in custody at Highbury Corner youth court today.
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