Two 16-year-olds have been found guilty of the “senseless” murder of Brianna Ghey, a “witty, funny and fearless” transgender girl who was stabbed 28 times in the middle of the afternoon in Culcheth Linear Park on 11 February. The murder-obsessed teenagers, known as Girl A and Boy B were found guilty unanimously by a jury at Manchester crown court on Wednesday (Dec 20, 2023).

Girl A, who admired serial killers and boasted of watching torture videos on the dark web, said she was “obsessed” with Brianna, and she and Brianna had been friends for a few months before she began plotting to kill her, along with Boy B who had never met Brianna until the day of the murder. The teenagers were disturbed by a couple walking their dog, and ran away, before being captured on CCTV making their way home calmly.

The boy referred to Brianna as “prey” and “it” in his messages, and added “she would be easier to kill” and "I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl”.

Though Girl A told the jury that Brianna was bullied at school for being trans, the Birchwood Community High School head, Emma Mills, told the BBC: “There was never any evidence of Brianna being bullied within the school or out of school”. Additionally, Brianna’s mother described her daughter as “larger than life” and “funny, witty, and fearless”.

The pair showed no reaction to the verdicts, but their mothers wept in the court. Afterwards, Brianna’s mother said to the killer’s parents that “they too have lost a child and must live the rest of their lives knowing what their child has done”

#briannaghey #briannagheytrial #justicsforbriannaghey #transgender #genderdiscrimination #equality #ripbriannaghey #trans #lgbtq #lgbtq+ 

Jenny Choi (c2park2025@chadwickschool.org)