Who Was Stephen Lawrence & What Happened to Him?

Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

Three decades after the brutal murder of Stephen Lawrence, his body is finally being brought back to the UK from Jamaica. Reports indicate that the family decided to get the body back after pictures of his grave appeared on social media. The gruesome murder took place in 1993 when Lawrence was waiting for a bus in the southeast area of London. The investigation found that a group of white men killed him while he waited for the bus. Subsequently, his family decided to bury his body in Jamaica so that he could be at peace.

According to BBC, Stephen Lawrence was living with his family and wanted to be an architect. He was studying for his A-levels. However, he couldn’t fulfill his dream and was brutally murdered by a group of white men. His family, who buried him in Jamaica, recently shared their disappointment over the photos of Lawrence’s grave circulating on social media. In a statement to Reuters, Lawrence’s mother talked about her distress over the pictures of her son’s grave, further expressing the family’s disappointment when they saw the images on social media. 

Thus, they decided to have Lawrence’s body close to the family. Citing her statement, Reuters reported, “After 31 years, we have decided as a family that we would like to bring Stephen home to be closer to us.” 

Stephen Lawrence’s cause of death: What happened?

According to BBC, in April 1993, Stephen Lawrence was waiting to catch a bus when a group of white men attacked him. The publication reported that while Lawrence succumbed to his injuries, one of his friends escaped unhurt. Per a House of Commons report, the killers stabbed Lawrence to death in an “unprovoked, racist attack.” Although the Metropolitan Police initiated an investigation into the case and charged a few suspects, they later dropped the charges.

But they kept on investigating the case and found new evidence. The court found two people—Gary Dobson and David Norris—guilty of Stephen Lawrence’s murder, after which they were sent to prison. Lawrence’s mother expressed disappointment with the verdict and kept pursuing justice for her son.

Thirty years later, Lawrence’s case is again in the news, and his mother is unhappy with what’s happening. She criticized the funeral home for keeping her son’s grave open to the public. She added, “We would like to express our distress at the funeral home’s lack of regard for our feelings and privacy, as evidenced by the decision to leave Stephen’s grave open to the public, rather than closed off.” The victim’s mother concluded her statement by requesting everyone to delete the images from social media.

To know more about the case, BBC released a documentary titled Stephen: The Murder Than Changed A Nation. It is available for streaming on BBC.

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