Funeral of 12-year-old Ava White to take place today
23 December 2021, 06:06
The funeral of a a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was stabbed to death following a Christmas lights switch-on is due to be held in Liverpool today.
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Ava White died after she suffered "catastrophic injuries" from a knife attack in the city centre on November 25.
Ava, who has been described as "popular" and "bubbly", was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital after paramedics arrived but died shortly later.
The funeral is being held at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral at 10am on Thursday and Ava's family have requested people not to wear black.
At the opening of her inquest into her death last week, senior coroner for Liverpool Andre Rebello said she was stabbed in the neck.
A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with her murder and is due to appear in court for a plea and trial preparation hearing in February.
Following Ava's death, her father Robert Martin said the family were "completely devastated and heartbroken".
In a statement released by Merseyside Police, he said: "We would like to say thank you to everybody for their ongoing support during this devastating time.
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Hundreds gather at vigil for Ava White
"Thank you to every one of you for your kind messages and donations.
"As Ava's family we are completely devastated and heartbroken by what has happened and we ask that you respect our privacy at this time and allow us to grieve as a family."
Hundreds of people paid tribute to her at a vigil earlier this month, and flowers and balloons were left in the city centre in her memory.
Cllr Anna Rothery addressed the vigil and said: "No family should ever have to go through this, but we have to take something from this.
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"All these children here tonight who have turned out, you are our future, you deserve to go about your daily life knowing that you are going to be safe in this city."
She called for the Government, council, police and other agencies to work together to eradicate knife crime.
She said: "Our children deserve better."
