Texts after Melbourne boys’ ‘pointless’ alleged stabbing deaths
Leaked messages have revealed a dramatic shift among some youth gang members following the alleged stabbing deaths of two boys walking home from basketball.
A leaked social media exchange has revealed some youth gang members were convinced not to “deepen the beef” after the alleged murders of two young boys in Melbourne.
In the texts shared online, one person said it should not take friends “dying to realise everything (is) pointless”.
It is not suggested these messages are connected with any of the people who have been charged with any offending
Dau Akueng, 15, and Chol Achiek, 12, were allegedly stabbed to death while walking home from basketball at Cobblebank last month in an incident Victoria Police said was “one of the worst” knife crimes the state had seen.
Police have stressed neither boy was known to be in a gang, but investigators have linked their deaths to alleged violence between groups in the area.
Eight people – aged 15 to 19 – have been charged as part of the murder investigation. Five have been charged with Dau’s murder and three with Chol’s.
The families of the two boys pleaded for an end to violence and expressed their wishes for there to be no retaliation over their deaths.
At a vigil for the boys on September 9, Chuti Ngong, Chol’s father, told mourners his son was “a very peaceful boy”. He called for “more protection for everybody”.
“I lost a very important person in my life,” he said.
“We are all human beings … we all have blood, we all have pain. Let’s take care of one another.”
It appears the message had sunk in for some, according to a Snapchat text exchange posted on an internet forum.
There is no suggestion the people who participated in the text exchange were involved in youth violence, or the deaths of Dau and Chol.
“Can’t lie streets over with bro,” one of the messages reads.
“I don’t see any positive outcomes in beefs.”
The other person involved in the chat asked if gang members “wanna drop it?”
“Most them,” the other person replied.
“I’ll lyk (let you know) soon about everyone bro.”
He said people needed to understand the gravity of what had allegedly happened to the boys.
The texter went on to say a man had spoken to people at Chol’s house in the wake of his death, “saying s*** that hit deep”.
“No bodies have dropped, ain’t no needa deepen the beef.”
He went on to say it was lucky no one else had been killed and that it “shouldn’t take any of our (friends) dying to realise everything (is) pointless”.
The alleged murders of Dau and Chol caused shock across Australia and brought urgent focus on escalating youth violence and knife crime in Melbourne.
Chol’s father dedicated part of his speech at last month’s candlelit vigil to urge authorities to take further action.
“We don’t want to lose our future. Our future is our children,” he said.
“We are getting older and our children are like a tree root. And if someone uproots them, how are we going to stand?
“We need to pray and we need to talk to our leaders to do more to protect everybody.”
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Originally published as Texts after Melbourne boys’ ‘pointless’ alleged stabbing deaths
