Teen ‘laughed after he’d killed Ava, 12’
Murder trial told of fatal stabbing
A BOY of 14 laughed and ran away after fatally stabbing 12-year-old Ava White, a court has heard.
A row over footage of Ava and a gang of girls “messing around” led to the youngster’s death, a trial was told.
Ava died in hospital after being stabbed in the neck in the centre of Liverpool in November last year.
A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter. He claims he acted in self-defence.
A jury at Liverpool crown court heard yesterday Ava had been demanding footage of her and friends be deleted when the boy lunged with a flick knife.
The wound caused “catastrophic” bleeding, and Ava, of the Everton area of the city, later died at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Relatives sobbed as the jury were shown footage of her final moments in the Liverpool ONE shopping area.
Prosecutor Charlotte Newell QC told the court: “Ava spent the evening with a group of friends and family aged between 11 and 15 years old.
“They simply wanted to hang out together and that included the sharing of small bottles of alcohol, singing and dancing and generally messing around.
“This defendant had also come into the city centre with a group of friends aged between 13 and 15. He had come into town in possession of a flick knife with a blade 7.5 centimetres long.
“He was to use this knife to stab Ava, causing the fatal wound, after they argued over the fact he and his group had, without permission, filmed the antics of Ava and others.
“Ava was quite insistent they delete the footage. Ava approached the defendant in that angry mood. “But she did not inflict any violence greater than a push nor did she produce or have any weapon. His response was to pull out his knife and stab Ava in the neck.”
Miss Newell said he began a “conscious cover-up” by discarding the knife, his phone and his coat.
She said he told “a series of lies” and denied he had been in the city centre.
He blamed another person before claiming selfdefence when told of CCTV evidence.
Miss Newell told the jury they would have to decide whether the fatal blow was deliberate or accidental.
She added: “He thrust the knife into the neck of this unarmed child with the force of a firm punch.
“His reaction at the time was to smirk, to laugh and to run away, leaving Ava to die whilst he sought to distance himself.”
The trial continues.
He thrust the knife into the neck of this child
CHARLOTTE NEWELL QC PROSECUTOR IN TRIAL