Stabbing victim's family wants park renamed in his honour

Friends and family of a 19-year-old stabbed to death in Surrey last year are petitioning the city to rename a park in his honour.

Devon Allaire-Bell was stabbed during a dispute at Frank Hurt School on April 24. He died later in hospital.

His mother Cynthia Allaire-Bell is asking Surrey City Council to rename the park adjacent to the school after her son.

"It was that park that his murderers were able to sneak out through and it is that park that we, under Devon's name, have been cleaning out," she said.

"I want Devon to be able to look down, and [see] kids in there with smiles on their faces instead of fear."

Allaire-Bell says her son used to play in the park when he was young, before it became a popular hang-out for drug addicts and prostitutes.

'A turning point'

Father Wayne Bell said renaming the park would make an important statement.

"This is something very dear," he said. "I have heard it said by so many young kids that they don't feel safe anymore. When are we going to start listening to our kids?"

The young man's friends and family are expected to make their appeal at Monday afternoon's council meeting. They will be joined by the families of Maple Batalia and Jamie Kehoe, who were also killed in Surrey last year.

Wayne Bell hopes renaming the park after his son will send a message that the community will not stand for violence.

"We want this to be a turning point," he said.

No arrests have been made in Allaire-Bell's death, but police say the investigation is ongoing. Homicide investigators are still hunting for five suspects in the killing, described as South Asian males in their late teens or early 20s.