Bereket Selomun, 20, was discovered in woodland off Brittain Way, near Fairlands Valley Park, shortly before 7.30 a.m. on Thursday (7 July). He was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering multiple stab wounds.
Bereket came to England as a teenager from Eritrea and was granted asylum. He lived in Stevenage on a permanent basis.
His next of kin in this country have been notified and are receiving assistance from specialist officers. He also has family in Eritrea who are aware of his passing.
The investigation into Bereket’s death continues, and although we are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry, we still do not understand the motive for such a brutal attack on this young man,” said Detective Inspector Iain MacPherson of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire (BCH) Major Crime Unit.
“However, I am confident that the answers will be found within the young Eritrean community of which Bereket was a member.”
In addition to witnesses, I am appealing to anyone with information about this murder or believes they know who is responsible to contact police so that we can bring justice to him and his family.”
When reporting information, please use the phrase “Operation Madrigal” when: • Filling out our online reporting form at https:///orlo.uk/EUxfJ
• Using online web chat to contact an operator in our Force Communications Room at herts.police.uk/contact.
• Dialing 101, our non-emergency phone number (in an emergency, always dial 999).
• Making an anonymous call to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visiting crimestoppers-uk.org.
I would like to reassure residents that we take knife crime extremely seriously in Stevenage,” said Chief Inspector Graeme Walsingham in a message to the town’s community. My teams are working hard to address this issue, not only by acting on intelligence and making proactive arrests, or by conducting regular stops and searching for weapons, but also by taking a preventive approach aimed at steering young people away from knife crime.” We are currently running Op EDUC8. We worked in collaboration with key organisations to deliver hard hitting and emotional presentations to year 7 and 8 students in every school in Stevenage, delivered by a variety of key speakers. Knife and gang crime have already been covered, and we intend to deliver these presentations on an annual basis.” My Safer Neighbourhood officers have also visited primary schools to talk about personal safety, including knife carrying, and we regularly collaborate with the Schools and Gangs Team and Stevenage Borough Council’s ‘No More’ project, which assists children who are at risk of becoming involved in knife crime.” We always act on information provided by local residents, and I am grateful to the community for their continued support.
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