“Make me understand that there is humanity in this world.”
That was the emotional plea from Keisha McLeod, who appeared on Crimewatch Roadshow in a bid to catch her son’s killer.
Corey Junior Davis, known as CJ, was just 14 when he was shot dead in Forest Gate in September.
The teenager had been due to move to Essex just days later.
“It was a new life,” Keisha said. “He was excited to start again.
“When he turned 11, 12, I could see the fear in his eyes. Some people wanted him to sell drugs. That’s when I started realising CJ had to leave this area.”
The teenager had left his grandad’s house to meet friends next to a playground in Moore Walk, Forest Gate.
Shortly after 3pm on September 4, he was shot in the head while one of his friends, 17, was shot in the leg.
“It happened at 3pm next to a children’s playground,” said Keisha.
“That in itself is the most shocking part. Where are children supposed to be safe if not in a playground?”
Nine months after CJ’s death, nobody has been arrested. The Crimewatch Roadshow appeal, which was broadcast this morning, featured a reconstruction of the dance-loving teenager’s visit to the playground in a bid to bring his killer to justice.
Det Chief Insp Dave Whellams, who is leading the investigation, spoke to the programme about what is known about CJ’s death.
He described the killer as a dark-skinned black male in his late teens or early 20s, who had driven a lap of the estate before getting out of the driver’s side and shooting with a gun he had hidden in his jacket.
The car, a stolen grey/silver Range Rover Sport, had been driven up from Beckton via Romford Road and Forest Lane, then after the shooting had gone back along those two roads before joining the North Circular.
Det Chief Insp Whellams added that he did not believe CJ was the intended target.
“I don’t see how a 14-year-old boy could have done anything to warrant that level of attention,” he said.
“It may well be that CJ was the closest one there, that he couldn’t get away.”
Anyone with information should contact the dedicated incident room number of 020 8345 3775 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
To watch the Crimewatch Roadshow appeal, visit BBC iPlayer.
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