Brentwood stabbing: Teen says friends' deaths a 'wake-up call'
- Published
Levi said he was "shocked" when he found out his two friends had been stabbed to death
A friend of two teenage boys who were fatally stabbed said their deaths were a "real wake-up call".
Sixteen-year-olds Charlie Preston and Frankie Gater died after police were called to Regency Court, Brentwood, Essex on 24 October.
Their friend Levi said he was supposed to be with them but was self-isolating due to Covid.
The teenager said: "No-one wakes up expecting their friends at 16 years old to be taken from you."
"At first I didn't want to believe it, I didn't really have a reaction, I was just shocked," said the 16-year-old from Essex.
Charlie Preston (above) and 16-year-old Frankie Gater died in the early hours on 24 October
He said he was on the phone to Charlie the day before and "he told me to get off the phone because he didn't want to catch Covid through the phone".
"It could have been very different, I might not have been here right now," he added.
Levi said before his friends' deaths, he would be "out all the time on the streets, trouble-making, doing stuff you know is wrong".
After they died, he wrote a rap about them which he performed at a mass vigil in their memory.
It was there he met Steve Gowers, who runs an anti-knife charity, who has taken him under his wing and is helping him learn a trade and focus on his music.
Levi said he was a "completely different" person as a result.
Steve Gowers, who runs an anti-knife charity, said Levi was a "beautiful soul"
He added: "After they passed I think it was a real wake-up call for me.
"A lot of people my age won't have a wake-up call like that, so they think they can carry on doing what they're doing until it's too late."
Mr Gowers said Levi was now "just himself, he's a beautiful soul".
Frankie Watson, 19, of Baker Street, Orsett, is charged with murdering the two teenagers and is due before Basildon Crown Court on 23 December for a plea hearing.
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