David Headlam, 18, was ambushed by two men wielding knives in the early hours of yesterday and chased for a quarter of a mile before he was stabbed.
Neighbours said the teenager was the son of a Pentecostal church minister and from a deeply religious family in north London.
His mother, speaking from their home in Willesden, fought back tears as she said: "I have lost my son. I just cannot believe it and I don't know what else to say."
Police say David - described by neighbours as a “polite, kind boy” - was walking home when he was approached by two men in hoods at around 1.05am in Park Parade, Harlesden.
They produced knives and chased the teenager down Sellons Avenue and into Drayton Road where they caught up with him and stabbed him a number of times.
Neighbours told how they fought to save his life as he lay collapsed in the front garden of a house.
They also described how two men stabbed him repeatedly before a dark-coloured people carrier pulled up and drove them away.
People rushed from their houses and, using towels, desperately tried to stem the bleeding from his leg before he was rushed by ambulance to hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3.20am.
A neighbour woken by shouts and the sound of the attackers fleeing told the Standard how he found the victim.
“I went into the garden and we were trying to get him stable by putting pressure on the wound.
“About five minutes later armed police turned up. There was so much blood across the road that I couldn’t imagine there being much blood in him.”
Latham Noble, who has lived in the street for two years, said: “I heard shouting and looked out of my window.
“I saw the guy crossing and stumbling towards the house and fell. He was trying to get away, he was traumatised and was trying to get help.
“By the time I got outside my neighbour was with him on the doorstep. The lady who lives there was quite hysterical, at first she thought it was her son. She brought out some towels and I was holding his leg putting on pressure.
“Then the armed police came. It’s so sad, so tragic and such a waste of life, no one deserves to die like that.”
Detectives said today they were not linking the murder to two other incidents in Harlesden at the weekend - one in which a man was shot outside a club and another in which a 24-year-old was left fighting fro life after he was stabbed in Harlesden High Street.
Police say the teenager was not apparently linked to gangs and there as no obvious motive to the attack.
One wrote on Instagram: “Still can’t believe this. Known you for six years now. You will be missed by many. In PE lessons we had the maddest banter. You are in the arms of the angels. Fly away from here. I know you are in good hands now. We will all miss you.”
"His mother would tell me how good her sons were and how dedicated they were to Christianity. She said they didn't drink, they didn't smoke. The family must all be devastated, it's an absolute tragedy."
His father, Bishop Alonzo Headlam, is leader of the World Vision Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, a church with links to the United States.
Mr Headlam has been in hospital for the last three months following a stroke and a family friend said he had not yet been told of the murder.
Outside the family home in Willesden, north west London, the friend said: “That’s the really sad part about it. His dad just had a stroke. He has been in hospital for about three months.
“I think he’s just about ready to come home. At the moment he doesn’t know about it. No-one knows how to tell him. At one point he lost his speech.
“The other day I saw David walking down the road with his Father’s Day card. It’s so sad. I spoke to his dad about David the other day.”
He revealed David was a talented musician who had played the organ at his father’s church services, with his brother Junior playing drums.
Friends also said the teenager had been targeted by men who took a dislike for him after a football match three years ago.
”I think he had an argument on the pitch with some guys about three years ago and they have had it in for him ever since.
“I think they had also had a fight on a bus and it just carried on from there,” a friend said.
He said he thought perhaps they had stabbed him to scare him, but did not believe the wound would be fatal.
He added: ”They probably thought they were just trying to make him scared. He was stabbed in the leg.”
Police say David - described by neighbours as a “polite, kind boy” - was walking home when he was approached by two men in hoods at around 1.05am in Park Parade, Harlesden.
They produced knives and chased the teenager down Sellons Avenue and into Drayton Road where they caught up with him and stabbed him a number of times.
Standard News
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