"Benefits Street Star Stands by Son After Fatal Stabbing in Bike Dispute, Calls Him a 'Child Who Made a Mistake'"

She was once Beyonce’s body double, a model in Paris and a TV star, but now Sherell Dillion is known as “the mother of a murderer”.

The 39-year-old woman’s life has turned upside down since her appearance on ’s in 2014, after her teenage son stabbed a man to death and was jailed for 25 years.

Sherrell Dillion never imagined she would have a son who is a murdererCredit: Spotify/Mums of Murderers The Benefits Street star defends her son and stands by his sideCredit: Spotify/Mums of Murderers

Sherrell’s son Terrell Boyce regularly appeared alongside his mum in the programme that focused on the lives of those struggling to make ends meet, in their hometown of .

Terrell experienced violence in the home, was surrounded by, struggled through school and had a multitude of care workers around him.

Despite Sherrell saying she did “everything I could” to get him on the right track, her son was jailed in March 2024 for fatally stabbing Ronique Thomas, 33, multiple times in Kings Heath High Street, Birmingham, in April 2023.

Terell was just 17 years old when he stabbed Thomas.

His mother, who has gone on to do a masters degree and appear in a film with Tom Cruise, told the programme Mums of Murderers on Best that Terrell had begun to carry a blade from a young age.

The Benefits Street star says her son felt like he needed protection after her nephew, and Terrell’s cousin, was stabbed at age 12 and left paralysed.

Sherrell says : “My 12-year-old nephew got shot and left paralysed.

“That led to Terrell and other members of the family wearing bulletproof vests to keep them safe, because if my 12-year-old nephew can get shot for walking to the shop and wearing a blue coat, it’s not safe.”

She adds: “I get that we have kitchen knives, we have to cut our bread, but all these machetes, these Rambo knives, where are they coming from?

“They’ve got to be coming from somewhere for these kids to get easy access, and it’s not just 17-year-olds, it’s 12-year-olds.”

Terrell was a troublesome at school but his mum says he was also ‘caring and loving’Credit: Spotify/Mums of Murderers

The mum wants young people to know “the streets don’t love you, your parents do”, as she now has to wait until she is in her 60s to be reunited with her son after what he did.

Sherrell, who says she drives past the scene of the crime most days, says: “I’ve been called an abusive woman, I’ve been called all these things, but I didn’t ever think – or I’d be called a mum to a murderer.

“I’m a mum that believes that if you do the crime, you do the time.”

“I don’t condone my son’s behaviour, I never have condoned my son’s behaviour.”

However, the mum stands by his side regardless of his actions. She explains: “I have to be there for him, it doesn’t mean that I’m supportive of his behaviour, I am supporting my child.

“Yes, he’s done wrong, but he does come from a decent mother and a decent family.”

Sherrell appeared on Channel 4’s Benefits Streets in 2014 and got a £50 Morrisons voucher for taking partCredit: CHANNEL 4

Issuing an apology to the victim’s family, she added: “I would like to apologise to the other mum – it’s two mums who have lost their children, and I really am so, so sorry.”

She says she didn’t find out what her son had done, until around a week later, when a neighbour mentioned it to her.

The mum insists her son, who was once a “funny, caring and loving” child, is remorseful.

She said: “It’s so hard as a mum to process it, to hear it, to drive past the scene nearly every day, it’s heartbreaking.

“Terell took the life of an older man, and I know he’s made a big mistake, and he is still alive, and he can change his life and turn his life around.”

The mum-of-two adds: “I don’t want to see him as a murderer – he is a child that made a mistake.

“I hope that Tyrell makes it right with God for him to be forgiven.”

Sherrell had a difficult time during the early years of being a mum and has been left ‘traumtised’Credit: Sherrell Dillion Sherrell’s controlling ex would attack her when she dressed upCredit: instagram/sherrell_sb_model

Sherrell admits she struggled after giving birth to her son at 19, and becoming a single mum when he was just three years old.

She says; “For me, being a parent has never been easy, but I’ve never let my past define me. It was a struggle, I was traumatised, I was hurt, and I was trying to deal with my own emotions, feelings, and bruises.

“Being a single mum as a teenager was very hard and traumatic.”

While appearing on Benefits Britain, she spoke about working at takeaway and she had dreams of being a model.

At 14, she was scouted, but she claims her violent and controlling ex stopped her attending auditions and shoots and would attack her “for looking pretty”.

“One day he beat me up for 12 hours,” Sherrell says through tears. “It started at 7am and ended when Emmerdale started.

“I remember trying to force my son back to sleep so that he couldn’t hear. After that I was dragged by my hair and held hostage.”

Sherrell, who stood in as body double for a Madame Tussauds wax figure that was created in 2020, says those painful memories shaped her.

She previously said: “I watched Benefits Street for the first time recently and it made me cry, because of how far I’ve come since then… knowing how much pain I was in and all of my struggles from my past.

“Everything I’ve achieved since is from my hard work, I struggled and hustled my way up.”

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The mum is now on a mission to get young people off the streets, stop knife crime, and get young people to listen to their parents.

She said: “The streets do not love you, your postcode does not love you, your family do.

“We need more groups, more talking about it, more organisations getting together and the police just taking these knives.

“It changes your whole life, not just yours, but those around.”

She concluded: “I’ll be in my 60s when Terrell comes out, god knows if I’ll be alive.”