Murder of Rhys Jones

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

The murder of Rhys Milford Jones(born 27 September 1995) occurred on 22 August 2007 in Liverpool, England, when he was shot in the back. An 18-year-old youth, Sean Mercer, went on trial for the murder on 2 October 2008 and was found guilty on the 16th December, 2008.

Background

Rhys was the son of Stephen (born in Liverpool) and Melanie Jones (born in Wrexham) (née Edwards). 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 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 approached. He then held out a handgun at arm's length firing three shots. It was originally believed that one of the shots hit Rhys in the neck, however during the trial the pathologist revealed the bullet had entered his back "slightly above the left shoulder blade" and that it had then "exited from the front right side of his neck". The shooting occurred in broad daylight at 7.30 pm BST.

Rhys' mother rushed to the scene when she heard what had happened.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 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' parents made a fresh appeal for witnesses to come forward on september 19 - four weeks after Rhys' 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 continued their appeal 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.

On 16 December 2008, at the end of a 9 week trial Sean Mercer was convicted of murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years. Other gang members James Yates, 20; Nathan Quinn, 18; Gary Kays, 26; and Melvin Coy, 25 as well as Boy 'M', 16 were convicted of assisting an offender and Boy 'K' - Dean Kelly, 17 was convicted of 4 related offences. Gary Kay and Melvin Koy were both sentenced to 7 years; the others will be sentenced in January

Gangs

Residents in Rhys' 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.

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' 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' 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.

External links

• Videos and galleries relating to Rhys Jones's death: Rhys Jones galleries and videos from the Liverpool Daily Post
• Angel Child (Song for Rhys)