Parents' heartbreaking plea to find son's murderer

Granada
Wednesday 14 February 2018 at 4:56pm

The parents of murdered teenager Yusuf Sonko have launched a Valentines' plea to find his killer Credit: Liverpool Echo

The parents of a murdered teenager have written a heartbreaking Valentine’s Day letter urging witnesses to come forward.

Yusuf Sonko was shot in the head just off Lodge Lane in Liverpool on June 2 last year, but no one has yet been brought to justice.

Parents Khadija and Papice Sonko urged anyone with information to show love and compassion and “break this wall of silence”.

They wrote in an open letter:

Dear Friends, it has been eight long months since our son, Yusuf, was brutally murdered, shot in the head on 2nd June 2017 on Lodge Lane, a busy street, with many people there witnessing what happened on that fateful evening. “No one from our community, not his friends, no mother, sister, brother or father has yet had the courage to come forward to give evidence, to bring the person who killed my boy to justice. “It is the season of love, Valentine’s Day, on this day I am asking for somebody to show us, Yusuf’s family, some compassion, some love, to demonstrate the love that was held for Yusuf. “We are writing this letter to appeal to you, to our community members to come forward with any information to bring the killer of Yusuf to face justice. “My family is broken, our hearts are broken, we will never be able to celebrate with Yusuf any more birthdays or festivals, we will never know what his future life would have brought him, and we will never see him grow into a mature man, to see him fall in love. “We are appealing to you mother to mother, father to father, sister and brother, please help us, please come forward with information. “Our community must break this wall of silence, it just takes one person to do the right thing. Put yourselves in our position, what would you want if it was your child or family member that was killed? “Please come forward, speak to the police and please bring us some peace at this time of year.”

A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said an investigation was still under way and echoed the appeal for help tracing those responsible.

Anyone who has any information is asked to contact the gun crime hotline on 0800 230 0600 or leave information anonymously and for free with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.