A 15-year-old boy has been found guilty of killing a schoolgirl by stabbing her after they argued over a Snapchat video.
After a Christmas lights switch-on ceremony in November 2021, 12-year-old Ava White was fatally injured in the heart of Liverpool.
The youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, claimed that he stabbed her accidently out of self-defense, but was convicted following a trial.
At Liverpool Crown Court, he was given a life sentence with a minimum of 13 years to serve.
According to testimony given during the trial, Ava and her friends got into a fight with the adolescent and three of his pals after they took Snapchat recordings of her group.
The child, who was 14 at the time, allegedly “grinned” after stabbing Ava in the neck with a flick-knife before fleeing the scene, according to Ava’s pals.
She was sent to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital with serious injuries, where she passed away shortly after.
The child then began disguising his activities by dropping the knife and taking off his coat, which was subsequently discovered in a wheelie bin.
Later, a CCTV image of him and his companions was captured in a store where the child had purchased butter for crumpets and taken a picture.
When his mother called to let him know that the police wanted to talk with him, he went to a friend’s house and told her he was playing a video game.
Just two hours after the deadly stabbing, at around 22:30 GMT, the child was taken into custody.
He denied being anywhere near the city center, according to the testimony given in court, before blaming another teenager for the stabbing.
Later, he said he overheard one of Ava’s group threaten to knife his buddy if he did not remove a video of her and that his intention was just to “frighten her away” rather than really stabbing her.
At the sentence, the girl’s mother sobbed in court as she expressed her sorrow.
Every morning when I wake up, my lovely Ava dies one again, according to Leanne White.
“Ava died at this time, and it’s today yesterday, tomorrow, and always. It represents the past, present, and future.
“It wasn’t just one horrible incident that occurred recently. It transcends the instant, the hour, or the second.
“Before and after became irrevocably separated in our lives.”
She called her daughter a “kind little kid” and claimed that all she had left were “wonderful memories.”
“She will never realize her ambition of becoming an air hostess and seeing the world,” her mother continued.
Robert Martin, Ava’s father, also read a statement to the court.
He stated: “My motivation for getting out of bed and for life was Ava. Everything I stood for and had fought for was ruined when Ava was taken away.”
The kid, who has ADHD and attends a special school, was previously the subject of a community resolution notice after assaulting a PCSO in July of last year, the court heard.
He was also detained in May of last year for assaulting two ladies, according to Mrs. Justice Yip, and by August, it was thought that he was being used as a pawn by known criminals.
The defendant was carrying the knife because he had previously been a victim of crime, according to Nick Johnson QC, the defendant’s attorney.
The court was informed that his father had assaulted his mother and had served time in prison in 2014.
The youngster acknowledged having the knife, but he refuted both the accusation of manslaughter and the charge of murder.
He had displayed a lack of regret, which had “understandably caused Ava’s family more grief,” according to Mrs. Justice Yip.
“There is only one reason why Ava is dead and that is because you decided to carry a knife and you chose to bring it out and use it,” she stated as she handed down the sentence.
“You liked to carry a knife. Earlier that evening, you flaunted it to your pals. You should not have had such a deadly weapon in your possession.
Det Supt Sue Coombs called the case “very disturbing” and expressed the hope that the punishment will discourage young people from carrying blades.
Mia White, Ava’s sister, expressed her desire to speak to groups about the effects of knife crime in a statement read aloud in court.
“Hopefully, if I can alter even one child’s thinking about using a knife, I will have done something remarkable,” the 18-year-old added.
