Mother: Authorities failed my boy shot dead by gang in playground
THE mother of a 14-year-old London schoolboy shot dead in a playground had repeatedly told authorities he was in danger from exploitation by drug gangs, according to a report released today.
Corey Junior Davis, known as CJ, was shot in the back of the head as he sat with friends in Forest Gate in September last year. His killers, thought to be from a rival gang, are still at large.
Today an independent report into his death found he was groomed by gangs from the age of 13, listing failures by Newham council and identifying missed opportunities to move Corey out of Newham, or away from gang influence.
Today his mother, Keisha McLeod, told the Standard: “Corey was a beautiful, funny, bright young man. I’m not going to pretend he was perfect. But he didn’t deserve what happened. If my son hadn’t been in Newham, this wouldn’t have happened. The report made me angry. It’s just the black andwhite ofwhat happened but I had to live that. No one was listening to me or my son. Corey was treated as a criminal when he was alive. Now he’s thought of as a victim, but it’s too late.”
His mother told social workers that the family had to be moved, and he told support workers he feared for his life. But no comprehensive plan was put in place to stop the gang exploitation.
Corey had severe ADHD but achieved above average grades in primary school in Waltham Forest. When he started secondary school in Forest Gate, provisions for his learning needs were not put in place, the report found. He was excluded and put in a pupil referral unit where he fell into the clutches of gangs. Once he told his mother he was being forced to sell drugs, and she found him with £600 worth, including heroin. Taxis were used to take him to youth workers in an office in a rival gang’s “territory”. The report says the “courage it took [Corey] to confide to adults cannot be underestimated”, yet “he wasn’t seen through the lens of exploitation, but as an offender”.
Social care workers became heavily involved when he went missing, return- ing a week later with costly clothes. Ms McLeod moved Corey to an uncle’s house in south London. In an email to a social worker in February 2017, she wrote: “To me this is a life-and-death situation.” She never got a reply. After falling out with his uncle, Corey moved back to Newham. Later Ms McLeod was offered a home in Barkingside, but a week later she was told the property had never been available. Two months later Coreywas dead. Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz said she had apologised to Ms McLeod and was “deeply troubled” the council didn’t do the best it could. She added: “The review highlights critical risks facing Corey that weren’t sufficiently understood but pointed to clear dangers to his life. We are now tackling these through a public health approach, better systems and a culture centred on exemplary safeguarding of young people in Newham.”