The teenage killer attacked three people before killing Leo in Hall Green last JanuaryTeen speaks to police where Leo Ross died
The brutal teen killer who stabbed Leo Ross ‘got a kick out of carrying out sickening violence on vulnerable people and watching the chaos unfold’, Birmingham police said.
The 15-year-old, who was aged 14 at the time of the murder, initially claimed he was an innocent witness at the murder scene in Hall Green before maintaining a wall of silence when he was quizzed by officers .
His motive over the four attacks in three days between January 19 and 21 last year has never emerged.
READ MORE: Live updates as Birmingham teen pleads guilty to murdering Leo Ross, 12
READ MORE: Leo Ross ‘forever 12’ tributes on first anniversary of Birmingham stab tragedy
The teen tried to attack an elderly woman at Trittiford Mill Park in Hall Green before he was interrupted and fled on his bike on the day of Leo’s death on January 21. But he circled the area apparently looking for another victim.
(Image: West Midlands Police)
He then savagely stabbed innocent 12-year-old Leo in his stomach, causing a catastrophic injury near Scribers Lane in Hall Green. The schoolboy was rushed to hospital but died later that day.
The fatal attack also followed an assault on a woman where he beat her with her own walking stick and pushed her in a river at the park on January 19. He pretended to be a Good Samaritan by warning other members of the public there had been an attack.
He also carried out another attack on a different woman the following day. He has now admitted Leo’s murder and assaults on three elderly women in the hours leading up to the tragedy.
Det Insp Joe Davenport, who is in charge of the case, told BirminghamLive: “None of the victims have reported that he tried to rob them, so it doesn’t appear that was the motive.
“He didn’t speak in his police interview and now he’s pleaded guilty he won’t be examined at court.
“The only motive I can see is that he enjoys violence and enjoys harming other people and watching the results and consequences of his actions.
“The boy involved acted on his own. There’s no suggestion he was influenced or motivated by any other person or for any other reason than his own ideas.”
Mr Davenport said Leo was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and the boy had “seen an opportunity to attack him and has taken it”.
“In the case of Leo’s murder and the assault on January 19, not only did he assault both Leo and that female, but he then stayed in the area and alerted other members of the public to the fact someone had just been attacked,” he said.
Floral tributes at the scene on Scribers Road in Hall Green in Birmingham after a 12-year-old boy was stabbed(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
“He would pretend to be another innocent witness who has come across what’s happened. He would then loiter around the area and wait for the emergency services.
“From the bodyworn video from officers at the scene, we can see him in the background loitering around watching what’s going on almost as if he’s enjoying it and getting a kick out of seeing the chaos that he’s created.”
Police said each of the attacks at the park were random on vulnerable and lone victims.
“Over a three-day period the boy responsible carried a series of attacks against vulnerable, lone people who were walking in Trittiford Mill Park in Hall Green,” said Mr Davenport.
“It started on January 19 where he assaulted an elderly woman who was on her own in the park. He assaulted her by hitting her with her own walking stick and ultimately pushing her into a river in the park causing her serious injury.
“On January 20 he did the same thing by assaulting another vulnerable woman walking alone in the park.
“On January 21 he tried to assault another more elderly vulnerable female walking on her own in the park. But he was interrupted on that occasion so he fled.
“But he remained in the area of the park, circling around on his bike and it appears from the footage he was looking for another victim.
“Unfortunately the next person he comes across was Leo Ross, 12, walking home from school. He was on his own and what we know is that he has stabbed him once in the stomach causing him a catastrophic injury.
“There’s no record that Leo or the boy knew each other. There’s no connection between them that we can see. They’ve had no prior dispute or disagreement.
“It appears this was just a completely random attack as were the other three attacks as well.”