A grieving mother has described the shocking moment she found her 16-year-old son dying in the street following a stabbing. Mother-of four Joan Dixon, 47, said: "I felt like my whole world had just been taken right there and then."
The shop assistant described the youth who fatally stabbed her youngest, Kennie, as 'evil' as she made a heartfelt plea for parents everywhere to make sure their children aren't carrying knives. As he walked home, Kennie was followed and then pounced on by a group wearing hoods and Covid masks on Stretford's Lakes estate at 7pm on Saturday, January 22.
He was stabbed in the chest and died later in hospital. Police believe the fatal stabbing was the culmination of a series of tit-for-tat incidents between two rival groups. So far police have arrested 14 youths on suspicion of murder, aged between 12 and 17. Ten of the young suspects remain on police bail.
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Today (Thursday) Kennie's mother Joan and warehouseman father Glen, 51, made heartfelt pleas for anyone with information to contact the police as the investigation into the stabbing continues. Kennie is one of four youths from Greater Manchester who have died because of knife crime in 2022.
The pair ran to the scene of the stabbing on Thirlmere Avenue in Stretford, just yards from the family home, and watched in horror as efforts continued to revive Kennie, who was unconscious and not breathing. Mr Carter was at home at the time.
Glen said: "My daughter phoned me and told me I had to go out as Kennie had been stabbed. I went out straight away. It was two minutes around the corner. My son was on the floor being CPRed, with two ladies on him.
"There was nothing anybody could do. There was nothing anybody could do for him. They have tried and tried but there was nothing they could have done for him."
Joan described how she was working at Select convenience store in Stretford when she learned her son had been stabbed.
She said: "I was at work at the time and my daughter rang me and said 'mum, you need to come, Kennie's been stabbed and he's dead'. Glen had run into the shop. By the time we came to the estate, it took me 30 seconds to get there, running from work. Kennie was on the floor with two people doing CPR on him.
"I felt like my whole world had just been taken right there and then. Kennie was the youngest of four children. You don't expect to get a phone call at work to say your baby is dying on the floor." Asked what she thought of the person who stabbed her son, Joan said: "Evil springs to mind."
Glen added: "Why do that?" The parents described how their son had had been planning to go the Trafford Centre, where pals had promised to buy him his first ever burrito.
Joan said: "My son lost his life for no reason what-so-ever. My son was going to the Trafford Centre for food. He had been out of the house ten minutes and he's dead. He was stabbed."
Appealing for anyone with information to go to the police, she went on: "Our estate is not a big estate and Stretford is not a big place. A lot of people know us. If anybody has heard or seen anything that night, even if they don't think it will help the case, please, people just need to get in contact with the police. They might have the missing bit that the police haven't got.
"I need people to know it's not right to carry knives and we need to protect our children. It's not just the police that need to do that. It's the parents. It's down the parents right from the beginning. If you think your child is mixed up in gang stuff or anything like that, search your children before they leave the house. Search your garden before they leave the house. Listen to what your kids are speaking about."
Both parents said they had no idea Kennie may have been getting into any trouble. Glen said: "He was a quiet person. He was a good lad. He was a quiet lad."
Kennie enjoyed his PlayStation, watching YouTube and liked classic cars and graphic design, his parents said. He liked rap, soul and 80s music and he liked to watch documentaries. They said he had left Egerton High School in Davyhulme - a specialist school for students aged 11-16 who have social, emotional and mental health needs - by January.
He had ambitions to work in the motor industry. He liked to visit his cousins and 'take goodies out of their cupboards', said Joan. He had three older siblings: Aimee, 29, Danielle, 27, Sonnie, 21.
Joan said: "He liked his PlayStation. He liked going on YouTube. He liked winding people up with daft silly noises. He had a great sense of humour and the biggest blue eyes."
Anyone with information is urged to call the detectives investigating the case directly on 0161 856 9908 quoting incident 2529 of 22/01/2022. Details can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Any footage or images from the night can be submitted to GMP's online portal here: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP22S43-PO1
