What happened to Ava White and where is her killer now?
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Ava White was tragically stabbed to death at a Christmas lights display.
Here’s what we know about the aftermath of the horrific attack.
What happened to Ava White?
Schoolgirl Ava White was just twelve years old when she was killed after being stabbed in the neck outside a clothing shop at a Christmas lights display in Liverpool, on November 25, 2021.
The attack followed a row over a Snapchat video.
Paramedics and police came to the scene on Church Alley in central Liverpool, after calls were made to emergency services.
Ava suffered “devastating injuries”, but sadly nothing could be done to save her, and she passed away shortly after arriving at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Reports say that the last words Ava said to her friends before her tragic death were, “Don’t leave me”.
Ava was murdered on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Where is Ava White’s killer now?
Soon after the attack, four boys — a 13-year-old, two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old — were arrested on suspicion of Ava’s murder, and were questioned by the police.
Within a couple of days, the police charged a 14-year-old boy with Ava’s murder.
The teenage attacker, who we cannot name for legal reasons, was charged with murder and possession of a 7.5cm bladed article.
At the trial, which took place in 2022 and lasted two weeks, the court heard that the killer had filmed Ava and her friends, and posted the footage to Snapchat, which Ava insisted he delete.
Prosecuting KC Charlotte Newell told the court that he “thrust a knife into the neck of this unarmed child”.
The defendant claimed he stabbed Ava “accidentally” and in self-defence, denying murder and manslaughter, but was found guilty of murder at Liverpool Crown Court.
On July 11, 2022, Ava’s killer, 15 years old at the time, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 13 years, after the jury deliberated for two hours and eight minutes.
The defendant, appearing in the youth court via video link, put his head in his hands and sobbed upon hearing the verdict.
It is not known where Ava White’s killer is serving his prison sentence.
What have Ava White’s parents said about her death?
Ava’s devastated family have been vocal about the impact her death has had — and knife crime in the UK.
Speaking 12 months after the horrific night, Ava’s mother, Leanne, told BBC Radio Merseyside: “I just remember getting a phone call off my sister saying Ava had been stabbed.
“I can remember thinking she’s made some kind of mistake… Ava won’t have been stabbed.
“I went straight up to Alder Hey [children’s hospital] and then everything was just a blur.”
On the sentence Ava’s killer is to serve, Leanne said: “It’s easier for the offender to do the crime, get 13 years in jail and come out after that.
“It’s us doing the life sentence, and Ava.”
Leanne said her grief for her beloved daughter Ava is “the past, the present and the future.”
“It’s not one horrific moment. Our lives became permanently divided into before and after.
“My beloved Ava dies all over again every morning I wake up. My Ava dies again every moment she’s not with us for the rest of my life.
“She was my life, the life and soul of the party. She was a happy, healthy child adored by her family.
Ava’s older sister Mia told LBC: “My life is living hell on earth.
“We haven’t actually been as a whole family since this happened to Ava. We can’t, it’s too painful.
“A lot of my cousins are Ava’s age, so it’s hard seeing them.”
Leanne has since campaigned for police to be allowed to stop adults who have convictions of carrying knives, and has also backed extending the scheme to include offenders as young as 12.
Speaking to Sky News, “There are children as young as 12 carrying knives. Ava’s murderer was just 14.
“And maybe if these powers had been introduced earlier then the knife that killed her could have been taken off the streets.”