By Mimi Swaby and Ellen Halliday
March 4 2020, 13.00
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Tributes have been paid to the victim of Croydon’s latest fatal stabbing, who was attacked just metres from the home of a campaigner who lost her own son in a knife murder.
Tyler Roye, 24, was stabbed on Stroud Green Way in the early hours of February 26 and died in hospital as a result of wounds to his chest at 2:46am.
Police arrested a 23-year-old man in Croydon on suspicion of murder on Sunday.
“Tyler was adored and loved by so many,” his mother, Sydney, said. “His smile and laugh were infectious, his presence would light up any room.
“Tyler was courageous, convivial, charming, and extremely ambitious. We would like to remember Tyler the same way he lived his life here on earth.”
Friends have launched a Go-FundMe page to help with funeral costs, with nearly £4,000 raised after 24 hours.
Kayleigh Bennett, a friend from school, said: “He had a smile that would light up the whole room, grinning from cheek to cheek, it was so infectious.”
Tyler was attacked metres from the Croydon home of Yemi Hughes, 40, whose son Andre Aderemi was stabbed 26 times in 2016 and died. Mrs Hughes is campaigning to prevent knife crime across the borough.
She said: “It was literally at the back of my garden. Last night I was screaming in my sleep.
“I just don’t want anyone else to go through what I did. People always think that it will never affect them – I’ve been that mum.”
Tyler’s death followed a bloody week in Croydon with three unconnected stabbings.
Detective Chief Inspector John Massey said: “This was a brutal and frenzied attack that has ended a young man’s life. If you saw anything, but have not yet come forward, please get in touch.
“I want to hear from anyone who saw, heard or recorded anything in the Stroud Green Way area before, during or after the murder.”
Last year 93 people were killed in knife attacks in London, while last month Louis Johnson, 16, was stabbed in front of commuters at East Croydon station, where he died at the scene.
It has been nearly four years since Andre was stabbed and killed by former friends in a frenzied attack in Croydon. Two men are serving life sentences for his murder while two others were convicted of manslaughter.
“Why do we take the figures back to zero each year,” added Mrs Hughes, who has become a vocal campaigner against knife crime. “We should be counting all the young deaths rather than starting again every January.”
Chief Inspector Craig Knight, who is leading the Met Police’s response to violent crime in the area, said: “One victim of crime in relation to violence is one too many.
“Violence is a community response. We have to act as a community.” Five weeks ago the Met Police launched a violence suppression unit with specialist search officers in targeted patrol areas and have made 270 arrests and 110 weapon sweeps, seizing 44 weapons.
Nichole Young, 39, who runs anti-knife crime group Croydon Says No with Mrs Hughes, said: “There are ripple effects to these attacks. It affects every person that young person has known.”
The minutes after an attack, when the victim’s friends or passing strangers are most likely to be on the scene, are crucial in saving lives.
On average, an ambulance takes seven minutes to reach someone with life-threatening injuries. Someone can bleed to death from serious stab wounds within three to five minutes.
Mrs Hughes hopes to make 100 life-saving Bleed Control Kits with tourniquets and bandages accessible to young people. “We need to start helping each other. I just don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through,” she said.
