12-year-old girl stabbed to death in a busy market of Liverpool

A 12-year-old girl was killed after a quarrel broke out with a group of teenagers at an annual Christmas tree lights in Liverpool city centre on Thursday night.

The girl identified as Ava White was attacked, believed to have been stabbed several times, near a lively shopping street in the northwest English town after witnesses saw her group arguing with another group of teenagers.

Merseyside police stated they got reports of a killing attempt at 8:39 p.m. They discovered a passerby giving Ava first aid. She was taken to the Age Hey Children's Hospital with critical injuries but died shortly afterwards.

Police said she was attacked after her group was involved in a fight. "We believe that Ava and her friends were involved in a verbal argument that culminated in Ava being attacked and causing severe injuries," said Assistant Chief Constable Jon Roy. The suspects then fled the scene.

Four teenage boys from the city district of Toxteth, one aged 13, two aged 14 and one aged 15, have been captured by police on suspicion of murder.

Lady Rachel de Souza, the Children's Commissioner for England, wrote: "This kind of violence with a child and with such terrible outcomes is shocking at every moment, but when the victim is 12, it is especially so."

Ava's murder brought the latest attention to teenage streets murders in the UK; she is not the first victim. Such crimes have increased by 60% in Britain. This year alone, 28 teenagers were killed in the street murders. In 2008, a record of 29 was killed.

The number of teenagers being killed on UK roads is on the rise. In January, Olly Stephens, 13, was killed by two boys aged 13 and 14 in a park in Reading. In April, Fares Maatou, 14, was stabbed to death with a machete. His dead body was discovered in school uniform outside a pizza place in East London in April 2021. Next year, two boys aged 14 and 15 will go to court for his murder. Last week, 14-year-old Jermaine Cools was killed in Croydon, south London.

"As with Rhys Jones and Jamie Bulger, this tragedy is a game-changer for Liverpool," said Paul Walmsley, a youth intervention counsellor who works with children at risk of joining gangs in Liverpool. "The city will respond. You will see that tomorrow at the Liverpool match.