Mum of son, 18, stabbed to death by rival gang urges parents to 'get nosy' with their children

• Niquae Davis speaking to ITV West Country outside court

A mum whose 18-year-old son was stabbed to death by a rival gang is urging parents to "get very nosy" with their children.

Niquae Davis' son Dontae, from Bishopsworth, died during a pre-arranged fight in Lawrence Hill last October.

Today, Kairon Sawyers, 19, was convicted of manslaughter at Bristol Crown Court and sentenced to nine years.

Sawyers was a member of the 24 group - so named as it boasted members could commit crime 24 hours a day. Mr Davis was part of the 16 group - named after the Bristol postcode, jurors were told.

Speaking outside court, Mr Davis' mother Niquae said she'd advise other mums to pay close attention to what their children are doing.

She said: "My message to other mums would be get very nosy with your child.

"Don't just stand and not check - check everything that you could check.

"Even if you don't think it's worth checking, check, because sometimes when we're busy, we leave them in the background. It's always worth checking."

The court heard the 999 call made by Dontae's mum Niquae who was not at the scene

In a victim impact statement, Ms Davis spoke of her "unique bond" with her son.

She reflected on how he "overcame adversity with his speech, behavioural and language difficulties" and "always attended school... despite being haunted and pushed into a dark place that he did not want to go by others".

Now, she's calling for longer sentences for those who commit crimes like this.

She said: "I just hope in future if any other one of them thinks this is okay, they'll get double the penalty, possibly triple, until they learn to stop it, because it's not right."

Read Ms Davis' statement in full:

My beloved son Dontae Davis was killed by Kairon Sawyers on Thursday, October 14, 2021 and this act has had a devastating effect on both myself and all members of my family, especially the younger siblings and eldest brother and will detrimentally affect us for the rest of our lives.

Dontae was only 18, just a boy trying to find his way through life, especially after May 2021, he was finally seeing clearly that I wanted the best for him and that he was loved, he was home again, all was happy, things in the household were running smoothly and there was no need for concern on my part.

It has taken me a long time to feel able to think about writing this Victim Personal Statement and formulate the right words to convey my innermost feelings and thoughts because there aren’t any as I have found this to be an almost impossible task because of the emotional and psychological upset I have suffered.

Since that date, October 14, 2021, I have gone through every range of emotion that you could possibly imagine and at times I have felt so low and numb in every respect that I could barely function at all.

There is never a day goes by that I do not think of all the possible scenarios as to why this has happened to Dontae and what could possibly have justified him being stolen from me in such a senseless way.

I grew up in domestic violence at the hands of my father to my mother but in the face of adversity I grew, I healed and decided to make better decisions for the sake of humanity and what made me even more determined to do so was the birth of Dontae.

Dontae was such a special son to me and we had a very unique bond throughout his life. I poured everything I had inside me into him and always tried to do what was right for him. He was a loving and caring son who had great empathy and understanding beyond his years.

He overcame adversity with his speech, behavioural and language difficulties, had always attended school and had worked since he was old enough to do so, despite being haunted and pushed into a dark place that he did not want to go by others.

Dontae was amazing with all the other children in the family and we would call him “daddy” due to his paternal instinct for looking after the younger children and he helped to raise his younger siblings who all miss him terribly and have suffered significantly since his loss.

I am a deeply religious and spiritual person and though 'shall not kill' is written in the Bible, but Sawyers you have not only killed Dontae, you have destroyed and broken the lives of all the people involved with him, none more so than his family.

A part of me wants Sawyers to suffer inside emotionally like I do every day, for his heart to break like mine has, for his soul and spirit to feel as hurt as mine, to feel the emptiness and void that cannot be filled and for him to be surrounded by an unimaginable loss and never ending grief.

This world needs more good than evil, we do not live in a lawless society and there has to be a day of reckoning for those like Sawyers who do. I can only hope and pray that he will take the time to reflect on what he has done, the pain he has caused and come out on the other side a changed person who can add value to society, rather than to take it away.