Ava White died from a 5cm "catastrophic" stab wound to the neck, a murder trial was told.
The 12-year-old was killed on November 25, following an altercation with a boy. Liverpool Crown Court heard today that Ava spent the evening hanging out with friends and the group were seen sharing " small bottles of alcohol, singing, dancing and generally messing around".
A jury were selected on Friday for the trial, which is expected to last around three weeks. The defendant, who for legal reasons the ECHO will refer to as Boy A, was produced on a video link for the opening.
Read more: Ava White murder trial updates as boy, 14, in court over death of Liverpool schoolgirl
Charlotte Newell, QC, prosecuting, opened the case and told the court: "On the evening of November 25 last year emergency services were called to an incident in Liverpool City Centre. And on their arrival they found a young girl collapsed on the floor and bleeding heavily from her neck.
"That girl was Ava White. She was just 12 years old. She had been stabbed in the neck by this defendant, Boy A, who himself was just 14 years old.
"He had inflicted a single stab wound to Ava with a knife and that knife had been plunged into her neck to a depth of at least 5-6cm, damaging her jugular vein and causing catastrophic bleeding which was to prove fatal. Ava lost her life as a result of this wound shortly after her arrival at hospital.”
Boy A denies murder but has admitted having an offensive weapon, namely a knife.
Ms Newell said Ava spent the evening of her death in and around the main shopping area of Liverpool One with a group of friends and family aged between 11 and 15 years old.
She said: "As is the way of young people they simply wanted to 'hang out' together and that included the sharing of small bottles of alcohol, singing, dancing and generally messing around in a manner which doubtless they enjoyed."
She added: “This defendant Boy A had also come into the city centre with a group of friends, this group of friends aged between 13 and 15 years. Those two groups, Ava's group and Boy A's group, appear to have only a passing knowledge of one another and their subsequent encounter which was ultimately to lead to Ava's death was a chance encounter rather than an arranged meeting.”
Boy A had come into town in possession of a flick knife. A picture of the knife was shown to the jury and it had a blade 7.5cm long and 2cm wide.
She said: “He was to use this knife to stab Ava causing her fatal wound after they argued over the fact that he and his group had, without permission, filmed the antics of Ava and others in her group.
“Ava in particular was appalled and angry that they were filming her and was quite insistent that Boy A and his group delete the footage they had taken without their permission.”
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