A 13-year-old Black boy was drowned after being pushed into a river will now be reviewed by London’s Royal Courts of Justice. Smaller courts previously declared the teen’s death an accident, but his family thinks differently. They believe race played a factor in his death and how the case was investigated. Christopher Kapessa drowned after he got pushed into the River Cynon near Mountain Ash in South Wales in July of 2019. Within 48 hours of the incident, the South Wales Police called his death a “tragic accident.”

It was later revealed that investigators did a poor job securing the scene, interviewing witnesses, and ignored crucial pieces of evidence including text messages between the teens concerning the Kapessa’s drowning, Out of the 14 to 16 white eyewitnesses, only four were questioned. Public outrage over Kapesssa death made news headlines and pushed the Crown Prosecution Service to review the case.

“Christopher drowned and was killed as a result,” Mansfield contends.

He added the “suspect,” whom the courts ruled would not be named publicly, is now 17.

“One factor — the youth of the offender — has been given too much weight here,” the lawyer pushed.

“The suspect in this matter is aged 17 presently, but that does not preclude the public interest in accountability for causing a death by unlawful act manslaughter,” he argued. “It would not be ‘disproportionate’ to prosecute a child or young person for the manslaughter he has committed. The youth of the offender is a factor that a criminal court itself may properly take into account when imposing punishment.”

The mother received written statements from witnesses who were present at his drowning, this disproved early stories that were circulating that the teen had slipped into the river.

Mansfield told the judges, “This sets out the history of misinformation to her from the investigating prosecutorial authorities since her son’s death and concerning the events: the original source of being told her son had jumped, or had slipped, rather than being pushed appearing to have emanated from the suspect and the untruths spread by him and his immediate friends, including the lies told to the police.”

CPS had knowledge of the rumors and the truth, still decided that Kapessa was “victim of a foolish prank,” the family claims.

Jenny Hopkins, who worked on this case for CPS, said, “Although there was evidence to support a prosecution for manslaughter it was not in the public interest to prosecute. Christopher’s tragic death occurred after a group of children went out to have fun by the river.”

“The evidence showed that Christopher was pushed into the river as a foolish prank with nothing to suggest that the suspect intended to harm him, although that was the awful consequence,” she added. “Factors we took into consideration when reaching our decision included the young age of the suspect who was 14-and-a-half at the time, his lack of a criminal record, and otherwise good character. Significant weight must be attached to the age of a suspect if they are a child or young person under 18.”

Hopkins concluded, “In that context, we also considered the impact on his future prospects and that the main aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending. We also considered the impact of a trial on the other children who were present.”

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