The mother of a British schoolboy stabbed to death by her ex-partner has said she wishes she had died with him.
Alfie Hallett, 13, was killed on Tuesday by Goncalo Carvalho, 43, at his home in Casais, located in the Tomar region of Portugal.
His mother, 43-year-old Rachel Reeves, gave a heartbreaking tribute to her beloved son, telling how it now ‘hurts to breathe’.
Police say Alfie was killed by shop worker Carvalho after the man had first attacked his mother.
His mother’s ex then injured himself with the same knife used to stab the teenager and barricaded himself inside the family home.
As emergency services arrived on the scene, Carvalho then detonated a gas explosion which killed him too and injured a police officer.
Ms Reeves said of her son: ‘He was taken from me so unfairly and cruelly by that monster – too soon, when he still had so much to live for, so much to give to the world.
‘I miss him so much that it hurts to breathe. I wish he had taken me too, because my world ended the day I lost him. My heart is broken, shattered, and I don’t know how I will ever get through this.
Alfie Hallett, 13, was killed on Tuesday by Goncalo Carvalho, 43, at his home in Casais, located in the Tomar region of Portugal
‘I just hope, from the bottom of my soul, that Alfie always knew how loved he was – by me, above all else, with every fibre of my being. He was everything to me, my reason for living.’
Linda Hallett, Alfie’s grandmother, said he was a ‘lovely, gentle boy with a heart of gold’ and she believes he died trying to protect his mother after Carvalho launched his attack.
During the horror assault, Ms Reeves was beaten by Carvalho, who then tied up her hands and feet.
But the mother managed to escape and raise the alarm with neighbours. When emergency services arrived, she was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Portuguese police said Carvalho has previously served a prison sentence for aggravated homicide, reportedly spending around 15 years in jail for fatally stabbing a man 35 times in a park as a 19-year-old.
He was said to have been released due to good behaviour.
Officers added they had received reports of domestic violence involving the family in 2022 and 2023 and that Ms Reeves had previously reported her partner to police.
Ms Reeves and Carvalho had officially separated before the attack that took Alfie’s life.
Alfie was found with stab wounds at the apartment where he lived with his mother in the village of Casais, some 10-miles north of Tomar
Tributes have begun to pour in for Alfie, with a basketball coach describing him as a ‘cherished member of the sports family’
A neighbour told The Telegraph that Carvalho had spent ‘nearly every night’ sleeping in his car opposite the house, in an apparent attempt to ‘control the life’ of Ms Reeves and Alfie.
Neighbour Jaime Lopes, one of those Alfie’s mother is said to have turned to for help, said: ‘She was very scared, very badly beaten on her face.
‘It seemed to me that even her teeth were broken. She had a lot of blood on her hands and plastic ties around them and on her ankles.’
Adding that the woman and her child had lived in the area for at least two years and locals sometimes heard arguments at the property, he continued: ‘The only thing we thought was one of these days something is going to happen because the suspect is not a good guy.’
The 13-year-old was born in Brighton to Ms Reeves and father Mark Hallett.
He was brought up in Bognor Regis, in West Sussex, before the pair separated, with Alfie and his mother moving to Portugal when he was four years old.
After his death, Alfie’s basketball team shared a touching tribute as they praised his performance in their recent match.
‘He played so well that it seemed like he knew it was his last game, but far from imagining it,’ a spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for his school added: ‘It is with deep sadness and sincere regret that the Nuno de Santa Maria School Group learned of the passing of Alfie Hallett, a student at the D. Nuno Alvares Pereira School.
‘At this time of mourning and grief, the board, on behalf of the entire educational community, expresses its deepest condolences to his family and friends.
‘We wish them strength, unity and serenity to face this irreparable and unexpected loss. His smile and memory will remain alive in our hearts.’
Following the deaths, a police statement was released which read: ‘The Polícia Judiciaria, through the Criminal Investigation Department of Leiria, is conducting and investigating to clarify the circumstances of two deaths that occurred this morning in the parish of Casais in Tomar.
‘These are the deaths by stabbing of a 13-year-old boy and that of the presumed perpetrator, his mother’s former partner, who herself was found by authorities with signs of having been bound and assaulted and has since been taken to the nearest hospital.
‘Both the alleged assailant and the minor had multiple stab wounds. Despite vital signs still being detected, death was declared at the scene moments later.
‘Following an alert about what appeared to be a domestic violence situation, the GNR police force was dispatched to the scene.
‘Inside the residence, there was a strong smell of gas, which moments later resulted in an explosion that injured one of the GNR officers.
‘The alleged perpetrator had already served a prison sentence for homicide, and the family had been flagged following domestic violence cases registered in 2022 and 2023.’
