Two teens in the United Kingdom have finally been convicted of luring a transgender girl to a park in February and murdering her in a horrifying attack.
On Feb. 11, 2023, Brianna Ghey, 16, was fatally stabbed 28 times in the head, neck and chest in broad daylight.
Ghey’s brutalized body was found that afternoon along a path in Linear Park in Culcheth, a village outside of Warrington in northwest England.
On Wednesday, after an 18-day trial at Manchester Crown Court, a 16-year-old boy from Leigh and a 16-year-old girl from Warrington were found guilty of murdering Ghey.
Due to the teens being minors, the fifteen year olds at the time of the vicious stabbing, have been identified only as girl X and boy Y.
On Thursday, following a petition from British newspapers, a judge ruled that the two teens can be named by the media when they are sentenced on Feb. 2
Both teens are facing mandatory sentences of life in prison.
“We miss Brianna so much,” her mother, Esther Ghey, said after the verdict. “The house feels so empty without her laughter. “To know how scared my usually fearless child must have been when she was alone in that park with someone she called her friends will haunt me forever.”
Ghey’s mother went on to explain how she felt sorry for the defendants until she realized they hadn’t shown an ounce of remorse for what they did to her daughter.
Detectives from the Force’s Major Investigation Team spent months piecing together the case, gathering vital evidence, speaking to numerous witnesses, viewing hours of CCTV footage, and carrying out forensic enquiries.
During the trial, the court learned how the female defendant developed a friendship with Brianna and spent significant amounts of time trying to convince Brianna to meet up with her and a boy in Culcheth that day.
They ended up convincing her and after she arrived, they led Brianna deep into the park before brutally murdering her.
However, their frenzy was cut short when they were disturbed by two dog walkers who suspected something suspicious, and they quickly fled the scene together.
Brianna’s lifeless body was discovered by the dog walkers, who immediately called the police.
The two teens were quickly identified as suspects “after a number of eye witnesses came forward following a large media appeal.
Authorities arrested them 24 hours after the horrific attack occurred and they were charged with Brianna’s murder.
Searches were conducted at the defendants’ home addresses and their mobile phones were seized by detectives for telecoms analysis.
“At this point of the investigation, it became apparent that the defendants had an unhealthy fascination with murder and torture,” prosecutors stated. “Investigators had discovered a hand-written note detailing the two teens’ plans to kill Brianna after searching the female defendant’s room.”
“A hunting knife with traces of blood on it had been discovered and retrieved from the boy’s room. Investigators also found thousands of deleted text messages between the two defendants on their phones,” prosecutors added.
All the accumulated evidence proved that the duo had talked about their sadistic fantasies for months before the attack and had thought out several ways in which they would kill a number of children, including Brianna.
The messages had also demonstrated that there had been previous attempts on Brianna’s life.
When first arrested, the two teens had vehemently denied any involvement in Brianna’s death, but when the messages that they thought were unretrievable were shown to them, they both began to finally admit the truth and turn on each other.
Both teens have pled not guilty to Brianna’s murder.
Detective Inspector Nige Parr of the Major Investigation Team, and Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Moment, said, “Today, two teenagers have been found guilty of Brianna’s murder. I hope this result brings about some closure for Brianna’s family and helps them as they try and rebuild their lives. Brianna did not deserve her fate. She was targeted because she was different, and betrayed by someone she thought was a friend, and for her to have lost her life as a result of their senseless actions is tragic in every sense of the word.”
