A London woman has been stabbed to death by a stranger, prompting her family to speak about their loved one who was known by all as “smart, dedicated and loving.”
Johanita Kossiwa Dogbey was randomly attacked Monday afternoon in Brixton, a south London municipality.
In a statement obtained by BBC, the family of the 31-year-old said: “We are devastated by the news of the passing of our daughter. She hasn’t got one bad bone in her body. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
A man, 33, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. His name has not been released. He is currently in police custody.
Detectives say Dogbey was walking around Stockwell Park Walk at around 4:00pm when a random man attacked her from behind. Investigators believe the attack was random and not targeted.
“Johanita was a smart, dedicated and loving girl who always helped anyone,” the victim’s family said. “We can’t believe a senseless crime like this has happened as we can’t imagine who would do this to her. Our hearts are completely broken and will not understand why someone would take our beautiful girl away from us. She will forever be in our hearts as we will carry on living life as gracefully and beautifully as she did.”
A 2012 Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that “crimes committed by strangers were more likely to include a firearm, but between 2005 and 2010, victims were more likely to be injured by a known offender rather than a stranger.”
Furthermore, the most recent data available from the Federal Bureau of Investigations found that “28.3% of homicide victims were killed by someone they knew other than family members. Of those victims, 13% were slain by family members, and nearly 10% were killed by strangers. The relationship between murder victims and offenders was unknown in 48.9% of murder and non-negligent manslaughter situations.”
