Friends and family remember Bow knife victim on one-year anniversary

Family and friends of Isschan Nicholls mark the most unwanted of anniversaries next week when they remember the 18-year-old who lost his life after being knifed in Bow.

The talented young rapper was found with stab wounds following a fight at the junction of Lefevre Walk and Parnell Road on January 13 last year and died two days later at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

Friends and family were already paying tribute to Isschan on a Facebook tribute group, which has 1925 members, this week.

Asher Nikz Natty said there is ‘still pain when I think about you, but I know you’re somewhere better than here’ while Chantelle Adair said he was ‘very much alive in spirit in the hearts of ur loved ones’.

His mother, Jennifer Williams, posted at the end of last year: “I will always miss you but your memory will live on in my heart, soul and mind forever.”

Ms Williams and Isschan’s father Brian Nicholls remembered their son with a performance night at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in Gerry Raffles Square last October.

Under the banner of F.A.C.T (Families Against Crime Together), local performers including Isschan’s cousin Nina Alexis, singer Leona Melius and rappers Hood Soldierz celebrated his life on stage.

Police have made five arrests related to his death.

Two 18-year-olds and two 17-year-olds were arrested and one 19-year-old was rearrested in September and all have been bailed to return to a south London police station on January 15.

Isschan was one of 19 teenagers to lose his life on London’s streets last year according to Scotland Yard figures, a rise from 15 the previous year.

Violent deaths among the capital’s teenagers were at a high of 29 in 2008.