A 14-year-old boy shot dead in Forest Gate was laid to rest today.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Corey Junior Davis - known as CJ - at The Tabernacle Church in Lewisham.
CJ died on September 5, the day after being hit in the back of his head with a shotgun as he sat by a playground in Moore Walk.
He was buried this afternoon at a south London cemetery in the area where his mother, Keisha McLeod, grew up.
Earlier, family and friends lined the street as CJ’s coffin was carried into the church from a hearse bearing wreaths named Son, Cousin, Godson and Nephew.
They listened to tributes and scripture readings, plus a moving video/photo montage created by CJ’s sister Roshane, during a packed two-hour service.
CJ’s aunt Sharon Thompson said the family had been affected by a tragedy which they would never recover from.
She added: “CJ has not gone, he has gone on. He has run his race, now let us run ours.”
Several speeches referred to the youngster as being “full of life” and he was described as being polite, kind, loving, excited and vulnerable in equal measure.
Leo Muhammad - formerly known as Leo Chester and a star of 80s hit TV comedy show The Real McCoy - delivered the eulogy.
In it, he spoke of a family-orientated, dance-mad teenager who enjoyed the spotlight.
Well-wishers also heard how CJ had become increasingly self-sufficient and was about to learn how to cook before his life was taken away.
Mr Muhammad went on to attack forces in society which he said labelled incidents such as CJ’s death as “black on black crime”.
He argued this did not take into account wider societal forces such as discrimination which also had an impact.
His words were echoed by senior pastor, Michael White, who called on community members to do more to bring CJ’s killers to justice.
He said: “Silence is sin. As a community we need to get angry - we need young people to speak up.”
To date no arrests have been made. The family continue to plead for any information to help police with their investigation.
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