A mother’s world shattered on a June night in 2023. Hayley Ryall received the unimaginable news – her only child, Mikey Roynon, a promising young rapper celebrating his sixteenth birthday, had been stabbed and killed at a house party.
The scene was chaotic, a birthday gathering turned into a nightmare. Mikey collapsed on the driveway, the victim of a brutal attack. Two knives were recovered, one bearing Mikey’s blood, the other traces of it, evidence of a close and violent encounter.
Initially, three sixteen-year-olds – Shane Cunningham, Cartel Bushnell, and Leo Knight – were implicated. Cunningham was convicted of murder, sentenced to life with a minimum of sixteen years. Bushnell and Knight were found guilty of manslaughter, their young lives irrevocably altered by the tragedy.
But the story didn’t end there. Months later, a stunning reversal. The convictions of Bushnell and Knight were quashed, the prosecution offering no further evidence in their cases. For Hayley Ryall, it felt like a devastating blow, “a punch in the stomach,” reopening wounds she thought were beginning to heal.
“We went through a whirlwind of a trial,” Ryall recounted, “and when it was over, we thought it was done.” While Cunningham remains imprisoned, serving a life sentence, the release of the others has left her grappling with a renewed sense of loss and injustice.
Ryall clings to the memory of her son, a “cheeky” boy with a “great big grin” and a kind heart. She’s determined to keep his name alive, establishing a charity, Mikey’s World, dedicated to providing bleed kits throughout Somerset, a tangible legacy born from tragedy.
The original trial revealed Cunningham’s claim of self-defense, alleging Mikey had brandished a knife. However, the evidence presented painted a darker picture. CCTV footage and police interviews meticulously documented the events leading up to the fatal stabbing.
The Court of Appeal’s decision, though difficult to accept, underscores the complexities of the justice system. While Bushnell and Knight have been granted a second chance, Ryall poignantly notes, “Mikey doesn’t have one, and we don’t get one either.”
Hayley Ryall’s grief is profound and enduring. “I still think he is going to come home,” she confessed, a heartbreaking testament to a mother’s unwavering love and the enduring pain of losing a child too soon. The echoes of that night continue to resonate, a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of knife crime.
