Murder of Rhys Jones

Rhys Milford Jones
File:Rhys Jones.jpg
Born	(1995-09-27)September 27, 1995 Liverpool, England
Died	August 22, 2007(2007-08-22) (aged 11) Croxteth Park, Liverpool, England

The murder of Rhys Milford Jones(born September 27, 1995) occurred on 22 August 2007 in Liverpool, England, when he was shot in the back of the neck by an assailant. A 18-year-old youth, Sean Mercer, went on trial for the murder on 2 October 2008.

Background

Rhys was the son of Stephen (born in Liverpool) and Melanie Jones (born in Wrexham) (née Milford). They have another son called Owen, five years older then Rhys..

Rhys (nearly 12) had just left Broad Square Primary School on the Norris Green housing estate, and was due to start secondary school at Fazakerley High School in September of 2007.

Incident

Rhys, who played for The Fir Tree Boys football club, was on his way home from football practice with two friends. As he was crossing the Fir Tree pub car park, on Fir Tree Drive South in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, a hooded youth riding a silver mountain bike approched. He then held out a handgun at arm's length firing three shots. One of the shots hit Rhys in the neck, and Rhys died from blood loss in the arms of his mother, who had rushed to the scene when she heard what had happened. The shooting occurred in broad daylight at 7.30 pm BST.

By the time his mother had reached him, Rhys was unconscious. Paramedics tried for one and a half hours to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead some time later in Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Jones's headteacher and neighbours said that Rhys was a friendly, popular boy, and mad about football.

Local radio station Radio City 96.7's programing on the night of the incident, in particular the 10pm - 2am Pete Price show which changed its scheduling, was dedicated to amnesty for witnesses and a talk on gun crime. Radio City also launched their anti-gun-crime campaign, In Rhys' Name Get Guns Off Our Streets after the incident, later backed by Rhys' parents^Details.

Arrests and investigation

Detectives arrested and later released four people: a boy aged 15, a man aged 19, a girl aged 15 and a woman aged 18. Two other people – a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy – have been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The police have appealed to the public for information, stating that they need help in finding those who committed the crime. The murder weapon was described as a black handgun with a long barrel. More than 300 officers and gun crime specialists were deployed in the hunt for Jones's killer.

Rhys's parents made a fresh appeal for witnesses to come forward on september 19 - four weeks after Rhys's murder. Jones's murder was reconstructed on Crimewatch on the 26th of September, with Jones's mother appealing directly to the murderer's mother to turn her son in, led to 12 people calling into the programme giving police the same name. Despite reports that the killer's name is widely known and has appeared on internet sites and in graffiti, police are still appealing for witnesses to come forward. On 15 April 2008, Merseyside police confirmed 11 people (all aged between 17 and 25) had been arrested in the case in dawn raids. Six more men of a similar age were arrested the next day in connection with the murder: one for murder and the other five for assisting an offender. One of these men has already been charged with possessing a firearm). All six of them were remanded in custody by Liverpool Magistrates on 17 April 2008. Another man was charged in connection with the case on 18 April 2008, and remanded the same day.

Gangs

Residents in Rhys's locality have said that there have been problems with anti-social behaviour, and in reaction to this, last year, Merseyside Police made the area around the pub into a "designated area", meaning that officers could disperse groups and move people away from the area.

The police have vehemently stressed that Jones' murder is not gang-related. It is still not clear what the motive was, but a case of mistaken identity is being considered. Jones may have been caught in the 'crossfire' between gangs, and a football-related shooting has not been ruled out either.

The murder came just hours before the first anniversary of the killing of Liam Smith: the 19-year-old, an alleged member of the local gang "Norris Green Strand Crew", was shot dead by members of the rival "Croxteth Crew" gang as he walked out of Altcourse Prison, Merseyside, on 23 August 2006.

Description of the killer

The suspect is thought to be a white teenage male, around 5 ft 8 in tall, and of slim build. He was riding a mountain bike and was wearing dark clothes, including a hooded top with a peak, and white trainers.

The police are keen to speak to the female driver of a red car who swerved to avoid a cyclist crossing Fir Tree Road North shortly after 7.30pm on the day of the shooting. They would also like to make contact once more with the man who phoned them on the Saturday after the shooting..

On Tuesday 17th September the person charged with the Murder of Rhys Jones was named in the presses for the first time as Sean Mercer of Croxteth Liverpool, due to him becoming an adult (18 years old) on that day

Tributes

Jones was a dedicated fan of Everton Football Club, and a season ticket holder. Players of the team laid a floral tribute, football boots and football shirts at the scene of the shooting, and players and fans paid tribute to Jones in a minute's applause at the home game with Blackburn Rovers, held on Saturday 25 August at Goodison Park.

After a suggestion from Liverpool Echo columnist Tony Barrett in his blog, which was supported by many of its readers, in an unprecedented move arch rivals Liverpool agreed to play the beginning of the Z-Cars theme tune Johnny Todd – the song that traditionally greets the arrival of the Everton team onto the Goodison Park pitch – prior to the Liverpool theme tune of You'll Never Walk Alone ahead of their UEFA Champions League game with Toulouse on 28 August. This was followed by a period of applause, and the Liverpool players and staff, Toulouse players and match day officials wore black armbands during the game.

Over 2500 mourners attended Rhys's funeral, which was held in Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on 6 September 2007. The family of Rhys issued a public invitation for well-wishers to attend the service. The service was in celebration of Rhys's life and his family had asked that bright clothes, or football strips, be worn. During the service, Rhys' father read a poem he had written for his son. Footballer Alan Stubbs, an Everton defender, read from the Bible. After the service there was a private burial.

In September 2008 four Liverpool songwriters Taylor Bradley featuring Jules released a song called Angel Child (Song for Rhys) for the Rhys Jones Memorial Cup Trust Fund. The song came about because one of the writers (Mike Bradley) sons played football in the same team as Rhys and he had watched Rhys play all that season. The song is fully supported by Rhys Jones parents, Steven and Melanie Jones. All proceeds will go to help build a community centre in Rhys’ name as well as fund various sports related projects and activities around the UK. It is hoped that this will encourage children to participate in sport rather then get involved in the gang culture. “Join a team not a gang” is the motto for the song. The video can be watched at http://www.angelchild.co.uk[1]

External links

• Videos and galleries relating to Rhys Jones's death: Rhys Jones galleries and videos from the Liverpool Daily Post