Elianne Andam, the 15-year-old British-Ghanaian student fatally stabbed in the neck with a huge knife, was reportedly attacked while she was trying to protect her friend from her armed ex-boyfriend, Metro reported.
The tragic incident occurred in Croydon, south London, on Wednesday morning, and the victim was on her way to school when she was fatally stabbed by the 17-year-old suspect. Witnesses said the suspect as well as Andam and her friend were on a bus prior to the attack. But the suspect pursued the victim and her friend after his attempts to give his ex flowers and a love note proved futile.
The Sun also reported that the suspect and his ex-girlfriend had recently broken up, and the girl was returning some items before things escalated. The knife-wielding suspect fatally stabbed Andam at a bus stop when the victim tried to defend her friend.
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“Everybody was panicked. Two bus drivers and a lady were trying to help the girl,” a witness named Bridget said. “She had been stabbed in the neck and chest. It seems like there was a bunch of friends then this happened.”
Another witness, Victor Asare, also said, “A lot of people came, everyone came off the bus. (The suspect) ran. Everybody was crying and screaming. The girl was on the floor.
“We tried to catch him and a lot of people tried to save the girl. I was so shocked, I was shaken. It’s somebody’s daughter. I finished work but couldn’t sleep so came back. I wanted to see if the girl was OK.”
Asare also said the knife was “black, thin and about a foot long”, and it appeared the victim “didn’t want the boy to come closer” before he fatally stabbed her. It was also reported that the suspect knew the victim.
In the wake of the fatal incident, Andam’s family released a statement saying their “hearts are broken by the senseless death of our daughter.”
“Elianne was the light of our lives. She was bright and funny, with many friends who all adored her. She was only 15, and had her whole life ahead of her, with hopes and dreams for the future,” her family added.
“All those dreams have now been shattered. Our lives have fallen apart, along with that of our wider family. We ask the media to please respect our privacy as we try to grieve the short life of our beautiful child.”
The unidentified suspect has since been arrested on a murder charge. Meanwhile, British actor Idris Elba in an Instagram post on Thursday sent his condolences to the victim’s family and called for stiffer punishments for knife-wielding suspects.
“It is a shame that our country still mourns the deaths of children at the hands of knives,” he shared. “We NEED to enforce tougher deterrents and punishments to carrying these weapons.”
