London police charged a man on July 14 with the murder of a pregnant woman who was stabbed to death in June, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement Sunday.
Paramedics had to deliver Kelly Mary Fauvrelle’s son in an emergency procedure after she died in the early hours of the morning on June 29. The newborn, who was named Riley, died in hospital several days later on July 3.
Police said a 25-year-old man, named Aaron McKenzie, was charged Sunday with killing both Fauvrelle and her son, and with possession of an offensive weapon.
Fauvrelle was approximately eight months pregnant when she was attacked in her bedroom at Thornton Heath, south London, while the rest of her family was at home, Britain’s Press Association (PA) news agency reported.
Police previously arrested two other men on suspicion of murder, but a 37-year-old man was released with no further action and a 29-year-old was released on bail.
McKenzie, who has been charged with murder and manslaughter, was due to appear in court on Monday.
Few weekends pass without reports of knife violence, and flowers laid on London street corners serve as near-daily reminders of its results.
Knife crime has become a national crisis in the UK, where police recorded a total of 40,577 offenses involving a knife or sharp instrument last year—10,000 more than in 2011.
In June, two teenagers died moments apart on a bloody Friday night in London when four people were stabbed and a teenager was shot dead, in a spate of separate incidents.
Knife Crime Rises by 22 Percent in England and Wales
Knife crime surged by almost a quarter in England and Wales in 2017, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Nearly 40,000 offenses involving a knife were recorded by police in the year ending December 2017, a rise of 22 percent. The figures also revealed that gun crime went up by 11 percent to 6,600.
Alexa Bradley, who focuses on Crime Statistics and Analysis for the ONS, said that most crime remains stable compared to the peak seen in the mid-1990s.
But she said that the statistics show an increase in “high-harm” offenses, such as homicide, knife crime, and gun crime, which she said was “a trend that has been emerging over the previous two years.”
According to the data, recorded homicides rose by 9 percent to 653 from 599, year on year. When including deaths from terrorist attacks and events at Hillsborough in 1989, 688 homicides were recorded.
The ONS warned of a “genuine increase” in violent crime. Offenses were mainly concentrated in London and other large cities, but the majority of police forces across the country also saw a rise.
The statistics showed an increase in vehicle-related theft, up 17 percent, burglary, up 9 percent and robbery, up 33 percent. Violence against the person was up to 1.3 million, an increase of a fifth compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police released their own crime figures, that revealed murder had risen by 44 percent in the capital, up from 109 to 157. Sex offenses were up by 11 percent from 17,880 to 19,854 offenses, which includes 7,707 cases of recorded rape, up by 18.39 percent.
The statistics come at a time when figures showed that more murders were committed in London in February and March compared to New York, with a spate of stabbings driving the increase.
Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said he was very concerned about the rise of crime in the capital.
“My thoughts are with the victims’ families of these tragic and horrific crimes which have brought untold misery to countless people,” he said.
“We are strengthening local policing by bringing specialist officers closer to communities, and have increased the number of neighborhoods officers dedicated to particular areas to engage with the public and work with them to keep them safe.”
Overall crime in London was up by 6.4 percent, knife offenses increased by 21 percent, but gun crime was down by 4.6 percent, the figures show.
Crimes committed via a scooter, moped, and motorcycle peaked in July 2017, but have since decreased after police adopted new techniques to combat the crime, including the use of forensic tagging spray, lightweight police motorbikes, and remote-controlled stingers.
The Met outlined plans to reduce crime, including weapon sweeps and an increase in the use of “stop and search” tactics.
NTD reporter Jane Werrell contributed to this report.
