Son's heartbreaking final 5 words to mum before he was brutally stabbed to death at shopping centre

A mum has shared her son's final five words to her before he was stabbed to death at a shopping centre in Essex. Lauretta Ugwa has spoken out for the first time after her boy, 29-year-old Michael Ugwa, was brutally murdered after a chance meeting with East London man Muhammad Khan at the Lakeside food court on April 28 2022.

Khan, of Ilford, and his accomplice Brandon Lutchmunsing, previously of Grafton Road, Dagenham, confronted Michael and his friends. During the spat, Khan lunged at Michael with a knife and stabbed him under his arm, puncturing his heart. Khan was convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum or 27 years. Lutchmunsing was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 13 years.

In Lauretta's plea for young men to drop their weapons, created by Essex Police, she revealed how Michael called her on the day of his murder, asking her to make soup for him and his partner. He then told her: "You're the best mum ever." The next time she saw Michael was on a Snapchat video shared with her daughter, showing Michael on the floor with people coming to his rescue.

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"It was like someone put their hands on my tummy and something was wrenched out," Lauretta recalled, "Like there was a weight on it." Lauretta would later get the dreaded knock from police officers to say her son had been killed. Describing the loss of her lad, she added: "When someone's life is taken away. Murdered. It's the pain you never stop feeling."

In an emotional end to the video, Lauretta said: "When you carry a knife the intention to use it is there. You can decide to justify carrying a knife by saying 'I want to use it to defend myself'... No.

"My son's children will live without a father for the rest of their lives. It's affected everyone. Everyone has lost. This is killing families. This is devastating families. Young children are left without their fathers. This needs to stop. We still feel this amount of pain. This is what knife crime does."

Detective chief inspector Ian Hughes said: “The bravery of Lauretta to come forward and tell her story, to be so open about the devastating impact of knife crime is humbling. Her words, as a loving mum, say more than I ever could so my plea to people in Essex – and indeed around the country – today is to watch her video.

"To anyone who’s thinking of carrying a knife, listen to Lauretta’s message. To anyone who suspects their loved one may be carrying a knife or may be at risk of carrying a knife, please listen to her warning.

“To reiterate Lauretta’s words, knife crime is devastating. We’re working really hard to tackle knife crime, with specialist teams in place across the force and we’ll continue to do that work determinedly.”

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