A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe in Weston-super-Mare, Avon and Somerset Police said.
The schoolgirl was pronounced dead at a residential address in Lime Close, in the Mead Vale area of the town, on Monday night.
Police arrived at the scene at 6.12pm – and arrested the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in the Worle area less than 10 minutes later.
The preliminary finding of a post-mortem examination has indicated that the death was as a result of a single stab wound, the force said.
On Wednesday morning, the police said the boy had been charged with murder, and will appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court today.
The force also formally named the girl as Aria.
Superintendent Jen Appleford said: “This remains an incredibly difficult time for Aria’s family, who we continue to support and update around our investigation. It is impossible to adequately describe how traumatic the past 36 hours have been for them and we’d like to reiterate in the strongest possible terms their request for privacy.
“The tragic loss of such a young girl has caused a huge amount of shock and upset, with there being a profound sense of loss felt throughout the community. We are working closely with partner agencies and schools across the Weston area to make sure those affected receive access to any support they need.”
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