By Jonathan Bell From The Royal Gazette

The mother of a 17-year-old Bermudian student murdered in an English city said yesterday that she had forgiven his killers.

Keishaye Steede told reporters outside Nottingham Crown Court that she “forgave them the day that they did it”.

She added: “I haven’t been angry. This character that you see, that’s who I am — it’s not a front, and it’s the same character my son had.

“He was a good, loving boy. All he wanted to do was see his mum, be with his sisters … he loved his daddy, loved his nana and his uncle.

“This takes a lot to stand here and do this, but I’m doing it anyway for him.”

Ms Steede was speaking after two teenagers were jailed for life for the murder of Lyrico Steede, who was 17, and three others were sentenced to prison terms for his manslaughter.

She said she hoped her family’s ordeal would cause young people to “take a step back from violence”.

Ms Steede fought back tears after Kasharn Campbell, 19, was sentenced to 20 years and Christian Jameson, 18, was sentenced to 16 years for the murder.

The judge ordered the two serve the full terms before they are eligible for parole.

A further three teenagers were jailed for manslaughter.

Remmell Miller-Campbell, 18, was jailed for nine years and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to 7½ years.

A 16-year-old girl, who also cannot be identified, was sentenced to six years.

Mr Steede was stabbed in Nottingham on February 13 last year and died in hospital five days later.

The court heard earlier he was lured to a park at Stock Well, in the Bullwell area of Nottingham.

He was attacked and stabbed 18 times after he was chased through the park.

Detective Chief Inspector Hayley Williams said the murder was the result of a long-running feud between rival groups of “children that are wanting to be gangsters”, which had been fuelled by videos on social media.

The five were convicted by a jury last month.

Mr Steede, known as Rico, was Ms Steede’s and his father Jermaine’s only son.

Ms Steede’s victim impact statement, which was read to the court in December, said she experienced fear at the sound of ambulance sirens in the wake of her son’s killing.

She added she had “never experienced such devastating pain”.

Ms Steede said: “I’ve watched my elders in Bermuda lose their sons to murder, even my own cousin and children’s uncle. Each time I heard of another murder my whole heart would crumble. I hated to see my family go through that.

“I always wished it would never happen to me.”

She added: “This has by far been the worst experience of my entire 36 years of living. Losing my son has shattered my family.”

Ms Steede also pleaded for a war on knife crime in Britain because “I would hate to see another mother lose her son”.

For more on this story go to: http://www.royalgazette.com/court/article/20190125/steedes-mother-forgives-his-killers