A teen boy has been found guilty for murdering 12-year-old Ava White.
The schoolgirl was knifed in the neck in Liverpool city centre shortly after 8.30pm on November 25, 2021.
A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, admitted to stabbing her but maintained it was an accident and that he was acting in self-defence.
He had previously admitted to possessing an offensive weapon, the Mirror reports.
The offender denied murder as well as an alternative charge of manslaughter.
It took the jury a little over two hours before returning a guilty verdict.
The boy, who appeared in court via a video link, lowered his head and cried when the verdict was announced, before walking off-camera.
Some of Ava's family who were in court erupted in cheers and yelled "get in".
During the trial, Liverpool Crown Court was told Ava and her friends became involved in a row with the defendant and three of his friends after the boys recorded Snapchat videos of the group.
Pals of Ava claimed the boy laughed after stabbing her, jurors heard.
The defendant said he had wanted to "frighten her away" because he was scared she would "jump" him.
He told the jury: "I promise, I didn't mean to hit her."
Earlier in the evening, he claimed he heard one of Ava's group threaten to stab his friend if he did not delete a video of Ava.
After Ava was fatally hurt, the defendant ran away, discarded his knife and took off his coat, which was later found in a wheelie bin, the court heard.
CCTV showed to the jury of him and his friends in a shop where the defendant took a selfie and the group bought butter, which he said was for crumpets.
He then went to a friend's home and, when his mother contacted him because police wanted to speak to him, he told her he was playing a video game.
After he was arrested, just after 10.30pm, he initially told police he had not been in the city centre, but in later interviews blamed another boy for the stabbing.
The knife, which had a 7.5cm long blade, was recovered by police in March after the defendant's legal team passed on information about its location.
Prosecutor Charlotte Newell QC told jurors they would have to consider whether the defendant stabbed Ava deliberately or accidentally and whether it was in reasonable self-defence.
Ms Newell said: "His age is not a defence, he is not a babe in arms, he knows right from wrong.
"He was capable of making the decision to carry a knife. He was capable of deciding to use it and he was capable of lying about it over and over and over again."
Nick Johnson QC, defending, said in his closing speech that Ava was part of a group of about 12 children who shared 1.4 litres of vodka on the evening of her death.
Mr Johnson said: "We have to look at the behaviour of the group, who they are prepared to confront and in what circumstances they are prepared to confront them."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
