The Metropolitan Police have issued a description of the killer who stabbed a 17-year-old girl to death in Romford, London.
Victim Jodie Chesney, reported to have been a Ranger Guide in the Explorer Scouts, was listening to music at a park near St Neot’s Road in Harold Hill with other teenagers on Friday evening.
She and her group became aware of two males who left the area around 9 p.m., according to a police statement.
The pair returned not long afterwards and made directly for Jodie’s group, and on reaching them one of the two — “described as a black male aged in his late teens”, according to the Met — stabbed her in the back and fatally wounded her.
The suspects had reportedly not interacted with Jodie, who joins an increasingly long list of knife murder victims in the British capital as violent crime continues to rise. They are said to have carried out their attack and made their escape without saying a word.
“This was our youngest granddaughter. How have we come to this point where kids can’t have a walk in a park without suffering an unprovoked attack?” said grandmother Debbie Chesney in an emotional tribute.
“I want to express my deepest sympathies to [Jodie’s] family and friends,” said Acting Detective Chief Superintendent John Ross, of the Met’s East Area Command Unit.
“Her death is a tragedy. I can reassure them and the whole community that we are doing everything possible to identify and bring to justice the person or persons responsible.”
“I am appealing for any witnesses who have yet to speak with police to call me,” added Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, who is leading the investigation into the slaying.
“Although the description of the suspect is limited, I am certain that people will have seen the two males hanging around the park or running away from the scene — or will otherwise have noticed something suspicious. I need those people to call me [on 020 8345 3775],” he pleaded.
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