Heartbroken friends and family of Moses Fadairo, who was gunned down in Chatsworth Road on Saturday afternoon, are holding candle lit vigils for him every night at the spot where he died.
Mr Fadairo, 25, a former pupil of Cardinal Pole School in Morning Lane, Hackney, has a younger sister and two brothers and was father to three children – six-month-old twins and a four-year-old.
A good friend, who wishes to remain anonymous and has known him for more than 10 years since they attended senior school together, said: “It is heartbreaking what has happened to Moses and we are beyond belief to be honest.
“We are devastated. He was kind, he was loyal, he was fun to be around.
“His girlfriend is not doing so well. Our children know him and we have to explain it to the children.
“His family is a Christian family, they are church-going. it’s terrible news.
“Boy, life is going to be hard without him.”
The friend is joining friends and family to light candles every night at the spot where Mr Fadairo died after being shot in the chest.
“His mum is just crying, she doesn’t say a word, she just said thank you to everyone for coming,” she said.
“We had candles and balloons. It’s still a shock, we are just gathering and trying to come to terms with it.
“Obviously some people have been arrested and the people are also local people. It’s very close to the heart.”
The friend and her peers annually mourn the death of Robert Levy on September 16, a victim of knife crime who was in the year above them at school.
Robert was 16 when he was stabbed multiple times after he rushed to the aid of a boy he did not know, who was being threatened with a knife in September 2004.
The teenager, who was studying for his A-levels, died before he reached hospital.
His killer, who was 15 at the time of the attack, received a life sentence for murder.
“Robert was our other school friend. We haven’t even got to October and we are grieving Moses death,” said the friend. “We remember Robert’s death in September, and now we will remember
Moses’ death too. This hasn’t even sunk in, this is a like a nightmare that you want to wake up from.”
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