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A 15-year-old has admitted to the murder of 12-year-old Leo Ross, who was stabbed while walking home from school in Birmingham last year. The accused, whose identity is protected by law, entered a guilty plea at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.
Leo was attacked on 21 January 2025 as he made his way from his school in Yardley Wood. At just 12 years old, he is believed to be the youngest knife crime victim in the West Midlands. Bystanders found Leo injured on a riverside path in a local park and called emergency services, but tragically he died in hospital. His family explained that he was on a familiar 10-minute route home and was on the phone to a friend, arranging to meet under a tree in Trittiford Mill Park. The friend arrived at the meeting point, but Leo never appeared.
The boy’s foster family described him as “the sweetest, kindest boy who put others before himself,” adding that “he was loved by all that knew him, he made friends with everyone he met, young or old.” Leo’s birth mother, Rachel Fisher, expressed her heartbreak by saying, “My baby’s life was stolen for no reason whatsoever, my life will never be the same again without him,” and described him as someone who “didn’t have a bad bone in his body.”
In addition to the murder, the defendant, who was 14 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty to multiple separate assaults involving three elderly women. According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), these victims endured serious injuries after being pushed, hit, and falling to the ground. Police recovered the knife used in the stabbing after it was discarded in a nearby river, and the teenager admitted to possessing the bladed weapon. Investigators found that the defendant stayed at the scene after the stabbing and spoke to officers, falsely claiming he had simply found Leo injured by the River Cole.
Police believe Leo and the attacker had no prior connection, describing the stabbing as entirely random and unprovoked. During police interviews, the teenager showed no remorse and offered no explanation, responding only with “no comment” when questioned about the murder and the earlier assaults. The guilty pleas came more than six months after a scheduled trial was delayed to allow psychiatric assessments to be carried out on the defendant.
Sentencing is scheduled for 10 February, as announced by Judge Paul Farrer KC, who ordered that the teenager remain in youth detention pending the hearing. Leo attended Christ Church C of E Secondary Academy, where acting head teacher Tim Boyes recalled the profound impact of the tragedy on staff and students. Boyes described Leo as “a quirky, lovable, bright, unusual little boy” who, unlike many boys his age, had a passion for fossils rather than football. Flowers and heartfelt messages were left at the site of the stabbing, mourning Leo’s loss and emphasizing how “our lives won’t be the same without you.”
Jonathan Roe of the CPS condemned the stabbing as a “senseless act of violence” that “robbed a 12-year-old boy of his life.” Detective Inspector Joe Davenport expressed gratitude toward community members who attempted to save Leo and described the attack as “heartbreaking and senseless” on an innocent child. At the hearing, the teenager denied two further assault charges from October and December 2024, which were then ordered to lie on file
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