There should have been music, dancing and joy on Stretford's Lakes Estate this weekend. Siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews of Kennie Carter would have joined the teenager as he marked his 17th birthday this Sunday.
His loved ones will still gather to mark the occasion, but the most important person won't be there. Schoolboy Kennie was followed and stabbed to death as he walked home, on January 22.
As many as 14 people have been arrested in connection with his killing and 10 remain under investigation - not one above the age of 17 at the time of the attack. Those under investigation are now aged between 13 and 18. Yet detectives still need vital information to make a charge and closure for Kennie's family is a long way off.
READ MORE: Tragic teen at centre of murder investigation died after being stabbed in chest
For Kennie's family, the past six months have been torment as they try to piece their lives back together. Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare - but for Joan Dixon and Glen Carter, the agony has been compounded by their painstaking wait for justice.
"Every day it's a battle with my own brain that I'm sat there doing nothing," Joan, 47, told the Manchester Evening News . "Somebody's hurt my 16-year-old baby.
"I know he's not a baby but to me he's a baby, he's my youngest of four." She added: "I've got Kennie on my mind 24-7, right now while I'm talking to you Kennie's in my head, while I'm asleep Kennie's in my head, when I wake up Kennie's in my head.
"Every day is the same thing, we'll sit there, and I'm sat on the edge of my chair every day, and it's as if I'm waiting for something every day - to be told there's been a breakthrough or something. I still even think he's gonna walk through the door and it's all been just a real vile trick that's been played."
Joan added: "Somebody's got to do the right thing. Parents, just talk to your children and get them to do the right thing. If it was on the other foot and it was them, they'd want the right thing doing.
"It's not about grassing, a child has been murdered. He hasn't passed through an illness or something we've had chance to get used to. He was there one minute and he's been taken the next minute. It's just been sheer hell, it's been horrible."
Kennie died in hospital after suffering a fatal wound to the chest in a stabbing which took place close to where he lived, on Stretford's Lakes Estate. It's believed the youngster had left home on the evening of Saturday, January 22 to go out for some food with his friends.
Joan said: "Here's a sum-up of my Kennie - a lazy teenage boy that slept all day, played his PlayStation, ate, went out for half an hour, came back in and that was Kennie's daily routine. The day he died, he didn't get up until gone teatime.
"It was about 5pm, he had a shower, he'd been asked if he wanted to go for food or else he wouldn't have even got out of bed. Because food was on the cards he was going."
On the previous night, a fight had taken place in Stretford between two rival groups, including one which is understood to have included some of Kennie's friends - but not Kennie himself. Police believe members of the rival group returned to Stretford on January 22 to seek revenge on his friends, but the youngster ended up being followed home and stabbed at around 7pm.
"Within minutes our whole world has just been ripped apart," said Joan. "Me and Glen have been together 31 years and it's taken a long time to build our family.
"And just from taking that one child, I feel like everything we've built has been ripped down, just fully ripped down." Kennie was the youngest of four for Joan and Glen - with sisters Aimee, 29, and Danielle, 27, plus brother Soniie, 22.
Joan said: "My son's absolutely heartbroken because he wasn't there to protect Kennie. Danielle - she's heartbroken because she hasn't seen Kennie since Christmas.
"Aimee's heartbroken because she saw Kennie every single day." She added: "There's just a missing link - I've had four children and now there's a missing link."
The trauma has also been something Kennie's six young nieces and nephews have had to endure - aged from two to 10, with the eldest about to have her birthday the day after Kennie's. Aimee moved away from the Lakes Estate to keep her children away from questions about the stabbing, which had taken place near their doorstep.
Kennie's loved ones have left tributes to the teenager at the front and rear gardens of his home. They will gather to remember music-loving Kennie on Sunday, releasing balloons for the occasion. "What else can you do?" asks Joan.
"There's nothing else you can do, you're just clutching at anything to do to try to celebrate my son's birthday but he's not here, so it's not the same. It's not."
Joan added: "The feelings I've got right now are just the worst feelings I've ever had. Kennie's gonna be turning 17 on July 24 and I just can't even think how I'm gonna get through that day to be fair - any of us.
"It's not something you think that would happen, that your youngest boy isn't going to be here, he's got plenty of years to celebrate and that's gone. It's all gone."
The family had hoped to be nearer to justice by the time of Kennie's 17th birthday, but it hasn't happened. Police are still appealing for key information to make progress.
Joan said: "We need closure for our boy."
Someone knows exactly what happened to Kennie - and their silence is breaking his family's hearts. Glen, 52, added: "They'll have their own families one day and if ever anything happens like that they'll feel the same way."
Any information - no matter how insignificant it may seem - can be passed on to GMP by calling 0161 856 9908, quoting incident number 2529 of January 22, 2022, or use the online portal here. Alternatively, call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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