Bless Mulukwat Akoch was stabbed to death outside Eagle Stadium

The mother of a teenage boy who was stabbed to death inside a junior basketball stadium has described experiencing the “darkest days of her life”.

Bless Mulukwat Akoch, 17, was fatally stabbed at Eagle Stadium in Werribee in Melbourne’s west last year after he was ambushed in the corridor.

His mother delivered a heartbreaking victim impact statement in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where she said the shock of losing her only son had “penetrated” her soul.

“I wake up and pray it will get better,” she told the court.

“The pain I am going through as a mother is unbearable. I struggle deeply with the loss. It is my nightmare.”

The teenager accused of the killing, who cannot be named because they were a minor at the time of the offence, appeared in court on Tuesday.

The court was told the accused and deceased crossed paths at the stadium before the violent altercation unfolded.

The accused, now 16, kicked the deceased in the head, prompting him to charge at him. He then withdrew a knife and stabbed Mr Mulukwat Akoch once in the abdomen, the court was told.

He was then spotted on CCTV fleeing the scene.

The accused was later arrested and charged with one count of manslaughter, to which he pleaded guilty last December.

The court was told he messaged a friend admitting to stabbing Mr Mulukwat Akoch, after learning that he had died from his injuries.

He claimed to have done it unintentionally.

“I did it out of rage … I wasn’t thinking straight,” he said.

The accused also wrote a letter to Mr Mulukwat Akoch’s family, which was read in court, saying he was “truly sorry”.

“I wish all this was prevented … none of this was intentional,” he wrote.

“This will stick with me the rest of my life.”

His lawyers asked for a four-year or shorter sentence to ensure the now 16-year-old could serve his entire custodial sentence in a youth corrections centre, rather than adult prison.

The defence also submitted that the accused had ADHD.

But prosecutors argued he went armed to the basketball stadium and fled the scene after realising the gravity of what went on.

They also told the court the accused sent an image of a bloody knife and bloody hand to his friends before realising Mr Mulukwat Akoch had died.

Last May, police and paramedics were called to Eagle Stadium in Werribee following reports “a male had been injured”.

Mr Mulukwat Akoch, from Wyndham Vale, was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The court was told he went into cardiac arrest while in the ambulance and died a short time later.

Tributes then flowed for Mr Mulukwat Akoch, who was in Year 12 at Good News Lutheran College in Tarneit.

He was described as a “good kid” by a fellow student, who said he sat next to the teen for years on the school bus.

The matter will return to court at a later date for sentencing.

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