TEEN GIRL HELD AS KATIE, 7, IS FOUND DYING IN FIELD
THE distraught mother of a seven-year-old girl who died after she was found seriously injured on a playing field was seen crying on her knees in the street, pleading for help.
A 15-year-old girl was arrested after police were called to an address in the Woodthorpe area of York and found the child – described in tributes from family members as “darling princess Katie” – down a track with life-threatening injuries.
She was taken to hospital but died a short time later, North Yorkshire Police said.
Witnesses said the mother of the little girl arrived at the scene on Monday afternoon, crying: “No, no, she’s my little girl.”
Shouting
Rob McCartney, 50, who lives in one of the homes next to the track, said he saw the young girl lying in the field.
He said the child’s mother was “distraught”, shouting for help and saying her daughter had been killed.
He said: “The mother came running up the street shouting for help and saying ‘Get an ambulance’.
“I put my shoes on, went up the side of the house. I could see a young girl lying in the field, police were already attending to her.”
Mr McCartney added: “(The mother) was back and forth, obviously very, very distraught, and who I think was the father turned up.
“I spoke to her later, asked if she was OK and she said ‘No, no, she’s my little girl’.
“She said ‘I think she’s killed her’.
“They were obviously very distraught. Didn’t want to talk to people, the two of them took themselves off, were consoling each other. I didn’t recognise them.”
A man and a woman, believed to be the young girl’s grandparents, arrived in the quiet residential street and left a bunch of flowers by the cordon.
The card read, “Night, night my darling princess Katie, love Nana and Grandad.”
A woman living in the house by the track said: “The mother was on her knees in the middle of the road, crying and saying things. “It was quite distressing.” The woman, who did not want to be named, said the family did not live in the street of six detached houses by the track.
Difficult
She said: “We’ve all been here a long time, there’s no children in this street.”
The woman said children often played in the field in the summer.
Alness Drive is a quiet street lined with red-brick homes, lying to the south-east of the city centre.
On Tuesday morning, the grass track leading from the cul-de-sac to a playing field was cordoned off.
A white tent could be seen on the playing field beyond the cordon.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Ellis said officers were called to Alness Drive shortly after 4.30pm.
He said: “Officers attended and, upon visiting a scene nearby, they found a sevenyear-old girl with life-threatening injuries.
“An ambulance attended and the girl was taken to York District Hospital, where she sadly died a short time later.”
The York City and East neighbourhood policing team tweeted: “Difficult late shift for all York staff with tragic death of a 7 year old. Thoughts go out to family members.”
The teenager was last night still in custody and being questioned by officers.
Police vehicles were seen at a semi-detached house about half a mile from the scene.