Leo Ross murder: Teen pleads guilty to murdering schoolboy on walk home
A 15-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to killing 12-year-old Leo Ross in a random stabbing attack as he walked home from school.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, entered his defense at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.
Leo was fatally stabbed on a riverside path in Shire Country Park on January 21, 2025, as he walked home from school in Yardley Wood, Birmingham.
He rushed to the aid of citizens but later died in the hospital.
Leo, a student at Christ Church of England Secondary School, is believed to be the youngest victim of knife crime in the West Midlands.
In a statement, his family described him as a “wonderful, kind, loving” child.
On Thursday, the teenager, who was 14 at the time of the murder and is now 15, also admitted charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to previous attacks on separate victims, and also admitted possessing a knife article about the day he killed Leo.
He denied assault causing actual bodily harm and assault by beating on two other people, and it was decided that these charges would be included in the file.
Subsequent police investigations revealed that the knife used to kill Leo had been thrown into a nearby river, while the teenager responsible had ridden on a bicycle and had previously grabbed and attacked several women in the local parkland.
An investigation by West Midlands Police also revealed that the killer chose to stick around to talk to officers at the scene of the murder, falsely claiming that Leo was lying mortally wounded next to the River Cole.
It also emerged that Leo had no connection to the attacker and had been subjected to a stabbing that senior officers believed was completely random and unprovoked.
The defendant’s guilty plea was filed more than six months after the trial was postponed to allow psychiatric experts to evaluate the defendant, who cannot be identified due to his age.
Judge Paul Farrer KC said sentencing will be set on February 10 and is likely to last all day.
He told the defendant: “For many reasons I cannot sentence you today. You will be sentenced on 10 February and you will be brought from where you are being held to Birmingham where you can speak to your lawyers.
“Meanwhile, you are sentenced to youth detention.”
