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Amen Teklay, a “remarkable” teenager who loved music and was light on his feet on the football pitch, was remembered by friends and family on Sunday afternoon at a vigil near his family home in Scotstoun, Glasgow.
A crowd of more than 100 mainly younger people gathered to pay their respects to the 15-year-old Eritrean refugee, who died on Wednesday night in the St George’s Cross area of the city, in the park where he played football.
Police Scotland has charged a 14-year-old in connection with Amen’s death. He will appear at Glasgow sheriff court on Monday. A 15-year-old has also been arrested.
Amen lived with his father and sister in the west of Glasgow, which has one of the UK’s largest asylum seeker and refugee communities. He had recently been granted right to remain status by the Home Office.
Leading the vigil, Jamie O’Neill, Amen’s support worker at Kingsway Community Connections, said the boy’s friends had approached him with a plan to hold a gathering. Some present wore T-shirts reading “Forever 15” and others released balloons into the clear spring sky to muted applause.
O’Neill said he had first met Amen, a keen footballer who was “an unpredictable player and very light on his feet”, on the park’s pitch and that last year Amen had taken part in a campaign to save the green space after local people objected to redevelopment plans.
He emphasised that the event was a moment for the community to support one another and celebrate Amen, cautioning against speculation on social media.
Amen’s father and older sister attended the vigil and O’Neill read out a statement on Amen’s father’s behalf in which he expressed “heartfelt gratitude” for the support his family had received from across the city, which had brought some comfort “despite our overwhelming sadness”.
“Amen was a remarkable young man who was loved by everyone that knew him. This city is our home and it is only by working together that we can make it safe,” his statement said. “His death is not only a tragedy for our family but also for the families of those responsible. This cycle of violence must end.”
Amen’s sister, 17-year-old Delina, told BBC Scotland News on Friday that he had hopes of gaining UK citizenship and becoming either a basketball player, a doctor or an engineer. She said he was a “really sweet person, so kind and so bright”.
Amen was a pupil at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic secondary school in Jordanhill. Claire McInally, its headteacher, said he had shown “great promise” and that his death was a “shock to the school community”.
DCI Campbell Jackson said: “Our thoughts remain with Amen’s family and friends at this very difficult time. I would also like to thank the community for their support so far. Our investigation continues and I would ask anyone who may have information which could help us and who has not yet come forward to please contact us.”
