The young man stabbed to death on the Nightingale Estate yesterday morning was a former a police cadet who had dreams of becoming an officer one day.
Kaan Aslan, 21, was stabbed in the chest just after midnight in Monteagle Way, Lower Clapton. The Uber Eats delivery driver was returning home from work.
Speaking to the Gazette at his home in Goldcrest Mews, Maury Road – just 250 yards from the murder scene – his cousin told the Gazette her family is devastated.
“They aren’t bearing up,” said the 23-year old.
“His mum keeps crying, saying: ‘Why my son?’ He has an 11-year-old brother.
“They don’t know what they want to do, and if they want to live there any more. Everyone is confused. No words can describe anything that’s going on – everyone is devastated. It’s so new and so early, and everyone is still shocked.”
The cousin, who did not wish to be named, described how her cousin, who had studied at BSix College was “a good lad”.
“He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in life. He kept changing his idea.
“At some point he wanted to be a policeman.” Through tears, she added: “And then the police found him.”
She said Kaan was “really friendly”. “He was just a really nice guy, working late nights, trying to pay for his new motorcycle, and coming home,” she said.
Kaan was outgoing and would laugh a lot. “He was funny,” she said. “He was really joyful. He would just start conversations, and everyone loved him.
“I’ve been getting phone calls from his friends who I don’t even know, who found my number [and wanted] to give their love to the family.”
She added: “We have no idea why this happened. It was so close to his home. A two-minute walk and he could have been home.
“From what we know he had no fault in the matter and he didn’t know what was coming to him.”
A team of 20 police officers are apparently working on the case.
“Finding the killer isn’t going to bring him back but it is something everyone wants so they can be brought to justice.
“The police are doing their best and we have all our hopes with them that they will find them.”
Anyone with information can call police on 020 8345 3865 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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