A 15-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to murdering a 12-year-old boy at random as he walked home from school – before posing as an innocent bystander.
Leo Ross was by himself in a park in the Hall Green area of Birmingham when he was ambushed by the teenager, who had been on a violent rampage for the past three days.
His attacker – who cannot be named for legal reasons – dealt a single stab wound to Leo’s stomach and then callously pretended to be a witness by helping to raise the alarm.
The boy even spun a fabricated account of how he had come across Leo’s body to police as paramedics were performing CPR on him just metres away.
He told an officer: ‘He was lay there like that when I got here…I didn’t touch him because that could put me in the case.’
Leo, who did not know his attacker, was a ‘model student’ with an unblemished behavioural record at school and no problems with any other pupils, according to police.
The murder on January 21 was the sickening culmination of three days of serious violence perpetrated at random by his killer against strangers in Trittiford Mill Park.
He had previously targeted three lone women, including an elderly woman whom he attacked with her own walking stick before pushing her into the River Cole, leaving her seriously injured.
Wearing a black t-shirt with a grey jumper draped over his shoulders, the teenager today pleaded guilty to Leo’s murder, as well as two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possessing a knife, during a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.
He denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm on October 22, 2024 and assault by beating on December 29, 2024 in relation to two further victims and those charges were ordered to lie on file.
He will be sentenced on February 10.
It can now be revealed that the teenage killer was a delinquent who had spent months terrorising his neighbourhood since he was kicked out of full time education.
Leo Ross, 12, was murdered at random by an older boy, then 14, as he tried to walk home from school
Leo was ‘funny, sweet and had not one aggressive bone in his body’, according to his heartbroken family
Leo’s killer, now 15, has pleaded guilty to his murder at Birmingham Crown Court
Neighbours of the boy told the Mail he had attacked people, vandalised property and been brought home by the police in the months before the park rampage.
By contrast, Leo was ‘funny, sweet and had not one aggressive bone in his body’, according to his heartbroken family.
Police believe he was singled out that day because his killer was ‘much physically bigger’ than him and Leo represented an ‘easy target’.
Leo had been walking home from Christ Church of England Secondary Academy School at around 3pm, wearing his school uniform with his jacket hood up against the cold.
His killer, who was dressed entirely in black with his hood up, spotted him cutting through the park by himself.
Earlier that day, his killer had tried to attack a woman who was on her own in the park, but had been interrupted – forcing him to flee.
The boy, who was then 14, remained in the park and was circling around on his bicycle looking for another victim to assault when he spotted Leo.
It is unclear precisely what happened next, but police believe the older boy pulled a kitchen knife out and stabbed Leo without much of a wider struggle.
There was no suggestion it was a robbery gone wrong, as nothing was stolen.
Det Insp Joe Davenport, of West Midlands Police, said the only person who would be able to explain what had happened was Leo’s killer.
Leo, who was a model pupil, was seen on CCTV walking home from school shortly before the attack
CCTV captured the killer setting out from his home on the day of the attack, January 21, dressed identically to when he assaulted lone women in the two days prior
Chilling police bodyworn camera footage captured the killer, who was then aged 14, posing as an innocent bystander just feet away from where Leo is being treated by paramedics
He gave his fabricated account to police while paramedics could clearly be seen in the background trying to save Leo’s life
He told the Mail: ‘No other person was present unfortunately when Leo died, but a single stab wound, with no other injuries to Leo and no injuries to (his killer) would suggest to me there wasn’t any kind of confrontation.
‘He simply stabbed him in an unprovoked attack.’
Once he had inflicted the fatal blow, the boy then immediately pretended he had just come across Leo’s body – and ran over to alert a member of the public who called the police.
Extraordinarily, the killer was still hanging around when police and paramedics arrived – and could even be seen on police bodyworn camera, watching CPR taking place.
‘It was really, really sinister behaviour,’ Det Insp Davenport said.
In one piece of bodyworn footage, the attacker was recorded casually lying to officers about how he had found the body.
Paramedics can be seen performing CPR on Leo in the background.
The boy told the officer: ‘I just come out every now and again to ride my bike, because there’s a mechanic’s shop up there and I was going to come through here because it leads that way.
His killer had been circling Trittiford Mill Park looking for victims after attacking three women before he targeted Leo
Leo was last seen on CCTV turning down Scribers Lane and walking in the direction the park
CCTV later captured the killer returning home around an hour after the stabbing took place
‘That’s when I saw him and then I saw this woman walking down so I told her to call you guys.
‘Then I went to get some help from different people and that’s all I know about it.
‘He was lay there like that when I got here.’
He later added: ‘I didn’t touch him because that could put me in the case.’
The murder of Leo was the boy’s fourth attack in the park over just three days.
As well as the woman he assaulted on the same day Leo was killed, the teenager beat an elderly woman with her own walking stick and pushed her into the River Cole on January 19.
On this occasion too he had posed as a witness to the attack and helped to raise the alarm.
The following day, on January 20, he launched another attack on a lone woman who had been walking in the park, causing serious injuries, before running away.
Police arrested the teenager within three hours of Leo’s murder and were taunted by him as he was put in the police van.
Det Insp Davenport said: ‘He has shown no remorse for his behaviour.
Police have revealed Leo’s killer posed as an innocent bystander after killing the schoolboy with a single stab wound
The boy was responsible for three other attacks in the Trittiford Mill Park in the Hall Green area of Birmingham over the course of three days, including on the day of Leo’s killing
‘He seemed to find the whole thing quite funny when the police arrested him, almost goading officers that they wouldn’t find anything on his clothes or in his house.’
Fortunately, however, that did not prove to be the case, as officers were able to recover the murder weapon which had been thrown into the river.
Crucially, the knife was found to have both his DNA and Leo’s DNA on it.
Following the boy’s guilty pleas, Leo’s foster family paid tribute to him, saying: ‘Not aday goes by where we don’t think about Leo. His loss has impacted us deeply and his absence is felt constantly.
‘Leo was the sweetest, kindest boy who put others before himself. He was loved by all that knew him, he made friends with everyone he met, young or old.
‘He was wise beyond his years, full of knowledge and facts, full of life. A life cut short by a senseless act.
‘We hope justice is served and we can get some closure, whatever the outcome, it still does not give Leo his life back, the life he truly deserved to live to its fullest.’
The family also previously thanked Leo’s the school, the police and everyone involved in the investigation for their support.
Leo’s birth mother, Rachel Fisher, added: ‘My son Leo was the sweetest, most kind-hearted boy. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body.
‘My baby’s life was stolen for no reason whatsoever.
‘My life will never be the same again without him. He will be loved and missed forever.’
Speaking after the hearing, Jonathan Roe, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘This was a senseless act of violence that has devastated a family and robbed a 12-year-old boy of his life.
‘Leo Ross should have had his whole future ahead of him, and he should have been able to walk home from school without harm.
‘It seems unimaginable that a 14-year-old would use a knife to intend to murder another or seriously injure them causing their death, but that is what occurred on that day.
‘The defendant’s guilty plea today means Leo’s loved ones have at least been spared the ordeal of a trial. Our thoughts remain with them as they continue to cope with this unimaginable loss.
‘There are no excuses for carrying a knife and I hope this case serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences of carrying and using knives.’
