Ava White screamed “I’ve been stabbed” to her horrified friend before collapsing on the street in Liverpool city centre, a court heard.
Ava died after she was stabbed by a 14-year-old boy in School Lane in Liverpool city centre. Boy A accepts responsibility for her fatal injury, but says he acted in self-defence. The teen from South Liverpool, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder and manslaughter.
This morning, a trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard evidence from Boy J, who was one of a number of kids who was with Ava in the hours before she died, about what happened on November 25, 2021. The jury has previously heard how the friends were in town and been drinking vodka and messing about near St John’s Shopping Centre.
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After being moved on by a security guard, they had moved towards Williamson Square before Ava became angry after seeing another group of boys who appeared to be filming them. Boy J told police he knew both he and Ava had drunk vodka but described himself as “tipsy”, rather than drunk, when the argument began.
He said he went to talk to two other friends slightly away from the argument so did not witness it, but told police he was later told it was over the videos. Boy J walked with Ava and her other friends away from Williamson Square and across Church Street.
The court heard that at this point he and another friend dropped back slightly and he was still around the corner on Church Lane as Ava was stabbed on nearby School Lane.. Speaking during his police interview, which was played for jurors this morning, he said: “I heard Ava say ‘I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed’. I just heard it as I was about to turn the corner so I’ve run round and [Girl D] had hold of her and she was running towards me. ”
Boy J said he saw Boy A running away with other kids chasing him and it was only when he got closer to Ava that he saw her injuries. He said: “Then they brought Ava round, everyone could see her because [Girl D] had hold of her and she just coughed blood and then went backwards.”
Boy J said he and Girl D tried to help Ava as she lay on the floor and called for help from people walking nearby. He said: “Me and [Girl D] were screaming for someone to help us because there were still a lot of people on the street and then someone ran over and he was on the phone to the ambulance.”
Proceeding
