The father of a young man murdered in broad daylight on a busy south London road says he has forgiven his son’s killer as he directs a new stage play.
Keelen Wong, 22, was stabbed by masked Kyiza Sandiford who wielded an “appalling” foot-long blade in front of horrified motorists and shoppers on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton.
Sandiford, 24, from Merton, is serving life with a minimum of 23 years of the revenge attack on the afternoon of October 3, 2023.
Jemaine Wong has written and directed a theatre production called Our Son: The Battle of Forgiveness which opens on Friday.
Mr Wong, 45, told the Standard he got inspiration while look at old photos and videos of Keelan as a six-year-old.
“I had to make a choice with my emotions towards Sandiford,” he said. “I choose every 60 seconds to embrace the desire to forgive. A miracle is taking place.
“I still feel angry but now at the culture that perpetuates and makes money off young people dying.
“Not just music, videos and movies, but the myth of retaliation – someone does something and you have to ‘get them back’.
“I strongly believe the root of all murders is unforgiveness and bitterness, then anger.
“I hope the play will be a powerful tool highlighting forgiveness as a human essential. It’s the only way to transform hearts from serious youth violence to serious youth passion.”
Keelan was “loved” in the community and “took his last breath five minutes away from the first”, Mr Wong adds referring to nearby King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill. He planned to start a business with his fiancée.
“He had a bright future ahead of him,” Mr Wong added.
“Keelan left behind a fiancée and siblings who love him dearly. His youngster sister wasn’t even one-year-old and she’ll only remember him now by photos and a legacy.”
Our Son, which uses theatre and poetry to get its message across, is presented by Learn 2 Live Legacy in partnership with the Kiyan Prince Foundation to tackle the capital’s knife crime epidemic.
Promoting “compassionate masculinity and healthy fatherhood”, it suggests forgiveness is not a weak but the bedrock for healing after tragedy.
Kiyan, 15 - who played for Queens Park Rangers’ youth team - was fatally stabbed trying to break up a fight outside his north London school on May 18, 2006.
His father Dr Mark Prince OBE said: “How many dads do you see collaborating on something so important?
“There are so many negative connotations when it comes to black fathers and here are two doing positive things like so many others. Forgiveness is powerful. It’s the message we want for our males who are struggling in society. A lot of young people feel conflict is a way of communicating but the act of forgiving a person is greater than that.”
:: To see Our Son at Saint Gabriel’s College in Langton Road, Camberwell, on August 1 and 2 visit the website.
