Family members have revealed that the electric bike ridden by two teenagers before they were in a crash in Cardiff was an early 16th birthday present. BBC News Wales reported that the aunt of Harvey Evans, aged 15, said that the teen loved E-bikes and scooters and the present had been bought for his birthday next month.
Harvey Evans, who was 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, aged 16, died on Monday evening in the Ely area of Cardiff. The boys' deaths sparked hours of violence and vandalism after word spread on social media that a marked police van had been following the pair minutes before the crash.
Nine people between the ages of 15 and 21 were arrested following the disorder. CCTV has since confirmed police were following the teenagers despite South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael having dismissed chase reports as "rumour". Here's our report setting out the unanswered questions.
Read more: Incredible scenes as hundreds take part in balloon release for teens killed in Ely crash
On Friday evening a touching vigil took place in Ely for the two boys which saw around 1,000 people gather in memory of the best friends. The memorial started at 5.30pm in Snowden Road and many hundreds of mourners amassed in the surrounding area. Many carried blue and white balloons or wore white T-shirts with the faces of Kyrees and Harvey printed on them.
In an interview with the BBC Harvey's aunt, Hayley Murphy, said after the vigil: "It still doesn't seem real that we're here for Harvey and Kyrees. We're seeing all these news articles and then his picture pops up and you're like: 'Oh yeah – that's my nephew, this has happened to us. This is our family, not someone else's family you see on the telly.' It just doesn't seem real and it just hasn't sunk in yet."
Harvey's grandmother, Dawn Rees, described the friendship the two boys had. She said that the two "did everything together" and "loved each other like brothers". She described Kyrees as "lovely" and added: "If I needed milk he went to the shop for me, always asking if I needed anything".
Ms Murphy added that Harvey was an experienced rider and loved motorbikes. She said his father had taken him off-road biking in the mountains every week since he was three years old. She also described how angry scenes that took place on Monday evening began to develop in the aftermath of the crash after a video clip emerged showing police following the boys on the bike.
She added that she had stood with her sister, Harvey's mother, for more than two hours at a police barrier begging officers to let them know if the two boys were alive. She said: "We were stood at the barrier and we were begging them, begging them, to tell us if they were alive or dead and they wouldn't tell us nothing. And then someone ran into the crowd and said: 'I've got a video of the police chasing them' and that is what started it. That's what got everyone angry so I understand because we wasn't getting no answers."
Ms Murphy later added that she did not have faith or trust in the police. "I've got faith and trust in my family and this community that we will continue to fight and get the truth out there and we get justice for these boys," she said.
Police said they were continuing to investigate both the crash and the riot which followed. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation. On Friday they said they had conducted extensive house-to-house inquiries in streets in Ely and had been gathering information from local residents and CCTV footage. They are also reviewing initial accounts from the police officers involved. You can read more about the outlined four key points in the inquiry here.
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