Parents' remarkable decision after 15-year-old's stabbing death in Melbourne
The parents of a teenager killed in a fatal stabbing in Melbourne’s west have forgiven those responsible for his death.
Solomone Taufeulungaki, 15, was stabbed to death in Deer Park outside Brimbank Shopping Centre on Tuesday night.
Six teenage boys aged 13 to 16 were charged on Wednesday with violent disorder and affray and were due to face a children’s court on Wednesday.
His grief-stricken family laid yellow and blue flowers at the site where he died on Wednesday, which was not far from his and his family’s place of worship, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
His mother Salome Taufeulungaki told reporters the family had made the choice to forgive those who took her son's life.
“We bless them,” she said after leaving flowers at the scene, reported The Herald Sun.
“We don't want justice, we just want peace for our son.”
His dad, Atunaisa Taufeulungaki, was confident his son would continue to join them in their faith.
“He pass away but my heart... for my heavenly father. That's his plan,” Mr Taufeulungaki told reporters.
“Every Sunday my son come to this church. I believe may be every Sunday his spirit join with us in this true church, every Sunday.”
The teenager was killed when a group allegedly approached him on Tuesday afternoon. Six of them were arrested on nearby Billingham Road a short time later.
“He's a good kid, he goes to church. He comes from a good family, a humble family. It's just so unfortunate this has happened to him,” family friend Foa Galuega said.
Another person, Tatyana Taufa, paid tribute to the teenager, re-posting the news story to their social media with the comment: “My deepest condolences go out to the Taufeulungaki Family”.
The brawl and subsequent stabbing are alleged to have been sparked by an argument on social media, Nine reported.
Hours later, a fight broke out at the crime scene between about 30 people.
Footage of the second brawl posted on social media shows people running into the taped-off crime scene.
A police officer was taken to hospital and another man was treated for a cut to the head.
Three men arrested over the second brawl have since been released.
A 15-year-old Sunshine youth and a 17-year-old Point Cook male were released pending summons for assault-related offences, police said.
A 15-year-old Hoppers Crossing boy was also interviewed and released.
with AAP
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