Mother charged with murder of her son, 4, who was stabbed to death in east London, as child named
22 December 2023, 09:01 | Updated: 22 December 2023, 11:20
A woman has appeared in court charged with the murder of her four-year-old son in east London.
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Keziah Macharia, 41, appeared in custody at Thames Magistrates' Court on Friday, charged with the murder of Kobi Macharia Dooly, her son.
They added that a special post mortem was scheduled to take place next Thursday.
Officers said: "An investigation was launched after police were called to an address in Montague Road, E8 at approximately 22:50hrs on Wednesday, 20 December following concerns for the welfare of a child.
"Kobi was found suffering knife injuries; he was taken to hospital for treatment but subsequently died from his injuries."
Read more: Police appeal for information after man threatened Jewish people in Hackney
One neighbour told LBC they returned from work after midnight and saw a huge number of police cars on the road outside.
They said they heard officers talking about a knife having been found in the sink. Holding back tears, she said they had a Christmas card on their table that they were planning to give to them.
Another neighbour, living across the road, described the family in the flat as "lovely people" as she came outside.
One person who lives directly opposite the flat came out to lay a bunch of flowers on the wall at the cordon, as forensic detectives continue to work upstairs but didn’t want to speak to reporters.
Local Paul King, who says he grew up in the area and now lives on the street behind, said: “It’s shocking. It was only a few weeks ago that someone was shot on her doorstep just around the corner from here.
"It seems to be a bit of an epidemic of violence in the borough. This is the worst I’ve seen in quite a while. It just makes me want to move out of London all together.”
Next door to the flat that police were searching, a woman described the boy as being 'energetic, polite and lovely' saying that he always said hello to her son, of a similar age.
She said that she saw her emerge from the flat in her pyjamas, covered in blood, shaking and breathing heavily.
