A teenager murdered in a stabbing incident on Friday night has been identified as 16-year-old Kanye Ford.

Mr Ford, a former CedarBridge Academy student from St David’s, died from multiple knife wounds after a party at Horseshoe Bay.

Police announced yesterday that a 19-year-old suspect is in custody following the incident.

Urging witnesses to come forward, Detective Inspector Jason Smith said that there were about 30 people aged in their teens and early twenties at the party.

An altercation involving up to seven men broke out at the beach’s car park at about 11pm on Friday.

Mr Smith said: “If you were there and you saw what happened, we ask you to make contact with us so we can advance this investigation.”

He said the latest murder was “disturbing” and noted it was the island’s eighth murder of this year.

He added: “I wouldn’t say we’re at a crisis. It’s certainly alarming that we have eight murders for this year and that is the highest number of murders that we have recorded in any year in recent police memory.

“The trend is disturbing. What we are seeing as time has gone by is that more and more people have become desensitised to what is happening in the community.”

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Mr Smith said that there was no evidence to suggest that the latest murder was gang-related or involved drugs or money.

He said: “There’s nothing that we can say at this point that is directly related to gang activity, but we do have an open mind.

“This is why it’s important that we make an appeal to those young people who may have seen something to help us better understand exactly what was taking place.

“We continue to make our inquiries so that we can get all the information, so that we can have a clear picture.

“This is a community effort working with the police — parents of young persons who are monitoring their kids and looking at their behaviours.

“It does take the whole community working with police. It’s not something the police can do in and of ourselves. In the past, where the community has worked with the police we have been able to resolve these matters and we have in some instances been able to prevent matters from happening.

“We all have to do our part as members of our community to help to stem this particular rise in gang and gun and knife crime that we’re seeing.

“What is also disturbing is that we are often seeing in the community that young people are either afraid or are being intimidated by another person to not come forward and speak to the police.

“The more co-operation that the police get from the public, the better chance that we can stem the flow of the violence that we’re seeing, investigate successfully to bring closure to families, and have a more peaceful community and environment that we can all live in. We all have to do our part.

“It is a difficult time for the family as you can understand. Particularly today, when many of our young people are getting ready to go to school, Mr Ford did not make it.

“They are grieving because this was their loved son and he was very close with them.

“We are asking you to appeal to your conscience today to come forward and assist the police in helping us solve this particular murder.”

A second teenager was also stabbed during the fight but his injuries were not life-threatening and he has since been released from hospital. Police confirmed that he is not a suspect.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the lead investigator, Detective Constable Odessa Philip, on 717-2193 or via e-mail at ophilip@bps.bm.

Mr Smith can be reached on 717-0864 or at jsmith2@bps.bm.

Witnesses may also call 211, or the main police number, 295-0011. Information can also be given confidentially to Crime Stoppers on 800-8477.