The hunting knife was used to stab 16-year-old Brianna Ghey 28 times in the head, chest, back, and neck when she was in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington on February 11, 2023.
Just one day after her murder, a boy and a girl, both 15 at the time, were taken into custody; they both denied carrying out the attack and accused one another of being the murderer.
But, after hearing the horrific sequence of events leading up to her death, Manchester Crown Court found the two, who are now 16 years old and only known as Girl X and Boy Y, guilty of murder by a unanimous verdict.
Investigating authorities had identified the culprits, two teens who believed it would be simple to hide the most heinous of homicides within twenty-four hours of Brianna Ghey’s death.
What Happened To Brianna Ghey?
The couple, who were only 15 years old at the time, were apprehended at their houses and hauled away to be questioned. Despite the murderers’ conceited belief that their never-ending falsehoods would shield them, detectives would soon piece together the crime.
On the afternoon of February 11, in broad daylight, sixteen-year-old transsexual Brianna was stabbed twenty-eight times at Culcheth Linear Park in Cheshire. Due to their young ages, the teens were only referred to as girl X and boy Y during their trial, yet they were both found guilty of her murder.
The court heard how the two started to create what they believed would be a subdued cover narrative soon after the killing, which is when their web of deceit started.
Telling boy Y that a “woman got stabbed” in the park, girl X texted him. Even though the two eventually admitted to police that they were present during the stabbing—despite accusing each other of the killing—boy Y’s response was, “Holy crap.”
Girl X messaged Brianna the next day, asking, “Girl, is everything okay? There is news all over the place about the death of a teenage girl in Linear Park. “And why did you leave us for this strange Manchester man? Like, what the heck.”
It was immediately apparent to Det Ch Supt Mike Evans that the two students thought they could hide their traces. Girl X even assured Boy Y that he wouldn’t be discovered while critiquing the local police force’s competence.
The head of crime at Cheshire Police said, “These are high-functioning, intelligent children.” “I’m aware that those who read this while sitting at home will have this kind of self-constructed vision. “But in reality, they’re both exceptionally intelligent, well-spoken youngsters.
Their confidence or conceit in their ability to steal another person’s life and their belief that they would never be caught or face consequences is, in my opinion, what ultimately brought them to their demise.
When their lies were exposed, it became clear that they were both fascinated with murder, torture, and violence and had been plotting the crime for weeks.
They urged each other to consider how they would carry out a killing, as evidenced by messages between them. The jurors rejected Girl X’s assertions that she had no intention of bringing her “dark fantasies” to life despite her admission that she enjoyed them.
The jury rejected youngster Y’s assertions that he had only complied with these desires and not given them any thought. Boy Y testified during the trial by using a keyboard in a side room of the courtroom, speaking his responses through a witness seated next to him. The jury was able to view this testimony via videolink.
Jurors were informed that after his incarceration, boy Y “gradually stopped speaking” to everyone but his mother. Boy Y was also diagnosed with selective mutism and autistic spectrum disorder, while daughter X displayed characteristics of both ADHD and autism.
The reason for the teens’ actions may never be known by the police, according to Det Ch Supt Evans. He remarked, “I doubt many of us have ever witnessed the degree of depravity displayed, the dehumanizing character of the texts exchanged between the two, and the hatred directed towards Brianna and others for no apparent reason.”
The two adolescents had discussed individuals they would like to kill, and on January 26—two weeks before Brianna passed away—they had assembled a “kill list” consisting of five names. Girl X messaged boy Y once, saying she wasn’t feeling anything for the teenager, but she was “obsessed over someone” named Brianna.
