A 15-year-old boy stabbed to death after a mass brawl broke out at a birthday party has been identified as a drill rapper.
The boy, named locally as Jordan Douherty, died when violence erupted after up to 100 youths mobbed the event in Romford, east London on Saturday night.
The fatal stabbing happened as new figures revealed that youth knife crime had soared nationwide by 69 per cent.
Police are now questioning three male teenagers on suspicion of murder.
Aspiring rap star Jordan appeared in a number of YouTube videos with the group C17 under the alias Young Valenti.
Their lyrics reference gang and knife violence, rapping about using “skengs” and “shanks” (knives) to “dip” and “splash” (stab) their “opps” (gang rivals), the Sun reports.
The boy is the 22nd youngster to die in the London this year and figures also revealed how police are failing to solve 63 per cent of the crimes.
There been repeated calls for the Government to do more to reverse the worrying trend.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Anyone involved in this tragic incident will swiftly face the full force of the law. If you have any information at all about the incident last night - please report this to the police.
“There is no honour in remaining silent.”
Khan noted how “violent crime is rising across our country” adding: “these senseless deaths are devastating families and communities, causing pain, loss and fear”.
“Let me be clear - these appalling crimes will not be tolerated in London. There are no excuses for carrying a knife.”
Jordan was killed shortly after 9pm as around 100 youths gathered outside a party at North Romford Community Centre.
It is understood that too many people showed up for the event after details were posted on social media, prompting fights to break out as they left the area.
One local man spoke to a “distraught” teenage boy a short time later, who told him: “they’ve killed my best friend, they’ve killed him”.
One eyewitness said: “Some people were running toward the body, some people were running away, there were cars coming and picking people up.
“It was all kicking off. There was all this screaming.”
A teenage witness, who gave her name only as Ellie, added: “There were two or three boys screaming ‘he’s not moving’, ‘he’s dead’.
“There were paramedics doing shocks and CPR on him for quite a while.
“After, he was just laying there with a white sheet over him, it was covered in blood.”
Some youths are believed to have armed themselves with sticks during the confrontation.
A bus driver aged in his fifties was also treated for a head injury at the scene.
Machine operator Laila Ceksdere, 25, said: “The young people were attacking nearly everyone, there were almost 200 of them in the street.
“The bus was full and the driver shut the door and they just started punching the doors it was pretty terrible.”
A forensic cordon remained in place at the scene yesterday as detectives quizzed the three murder suspects.
Yesterday, police figures were released showing that knife incidents against victims under-25s are on the rise.
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