Mother’s tribute to “calm, kind” teenage son as killer is jailed for life

A bereaved mother has issued a heart-rending statement about her sense of loss following the murder of her 19-year-old son.

Tashawn Watt was described as ‘calm and kind’ in victim-impact comments made in court by those who are mourning his loss.

The teenager was stabbed death in front of his family by Romello Harley, of Kirkdale, Sydenham, who today was jailed for life for the attack.

Harley, also 19, will serve a minimum of 22 years, after being found guilty of murder by Inner London Crown Court.

He was found guilty of possession of an offensive weapon at the same court on Monday, March 21, following a trial.

The court heard that police were called shortly after 9:30pm on June 25, 2021 after Tashawn, who was called Tata by his family, was found collapsed in Miall Walk, Bell Green.

Officers attended, along with London Ambulance Service, but Tashawn died at the scene. He had been stabbed in the chest.

Police established that Harley had been involved in an argument with a relative of Tashawn at the family home a short time before the incident, which resulted in Harley being asked to leave.

He then armed himself with a knife before returning to the area where he tried to lure Tashawn to an alleyway, but Tashawn refused to go with him.

Harley then stabbed Tashawn in front of his family.

After the attack, Harley dropped the knife and ran away from the scene. As well as there being several witnesses to the incident, the attack was also caught on CCTV.

On June 28, he handed himself in at Lewisham Police Station and was arrested on suspicion of murder.

In a statement read to the court, Tashawn’s mother said: “Tata was well loved by everybody. He was a calm, kind character, he would walk away from any confrontation.

“I never thought I would have to bury one of my children at such a young age in such senseless circumstances.

“I can see that day so vividly and I relive it every day. My house does not feel the same, it’s missing Tata. I wake up every day and expect to hear the boys talking, the house is now so quiet now that Tata has gone. I sometimes talk to Tata to feel closer to him.

“My last memory of Tata was him dying on the floor in front of me. I decided to go and see Tata in the chapel to try to get rid of this image from my head. Tata looked sad like it wasn’t his time to go, it didn’t seem right he was taken so soon from us.

“There’s not a minute or hour in the day where Tata doesn’t come into my head. I sometimes ask how I can go on.

“The fact this was done by someone who was so close to Tata and our family is hard for me to come to terms with.

“We showed Romello nothing but kindness and allowed him into our home as though he was one of our family members. I sometimes have questions which I know will never be answered. Why did he do this? Does he feel any remorse?

“Me and my family are happy justice has been done but no sentence will ever bring Tata back. I take comfort in the fact we have such warm memories of Tata. My Tata. Always missed. Always remembered. Always loved.”

Pictured top: Tashawn Watt (Picture: Metropolitan Police)