Today marks 15 years since the death of Rhys Jones - the promising young footballer from Liverpool who was gunned down in the street on his way home from practice. The 11-year-old, who was the 'star' of his under-12s team, was killed on August 22, 2007, after being caught in the crossfire of a gangland dispute.
Killer Sean Mercer, 16 at the time, had come tearing up the street on his bike and fired three shots from a borrowed Smith and Wesson. Mercer missed his intended victim - and instead, Rhys was shot in the neck and collapsed in a pool of blood in the car park of the Fir Tree pub.
Despite witnesses and many in the community knowing who was responsible for firing the deadly shot that killed little Rhys, it took police eight months to gather enough evidence to make arrests. Mercer had tried to cover up the crime with 10 accomplices but eventually, in 2008, they found themselves in court - where Sean was jailed for life.
A wall of secrecy hung over Rhys' neighbourhood in Merseyside as residents lived in fear from the Croxteth Crew.
Heartbreaking, Rhys' parents, Mel and Steve, had made the move to Croxteth in a bid to get their sons, including older brother Owen, away from gang violence in other parts of Liverpool.
Rhys is unlikely to have been aware of the gang of older boys as he made his way home just before 7.30pm on August 22, 2007.
Mercer was a member of the Croxteth Crew and at just 16, was likely trying to impress the older members of the gang.
With the gun hidden under his clothes, he took aim in the car park of the Fir Tree pub at a rival gang member, Wayne Brady, who was part of Strand Gang.
Mercer missed and instead claimed the life of innocent Rhys. He even fired a third shot after the schoolboy crumpled to the floor after he was hit.
When Rhys' mum Mel arrived to the scene, she held her youngest boy as paramedics desperately tried to save his life.
Recalling the aftermath of the shooting, mum Mel told the Mirror: “I just ran over to him and put my arms under his head. I was talking to him and talking to him, and saying ‘stay with me, stay with me Rhys’.
“But there was no response from him at all. He was just lying there in a huge pool of blood.
“He was such a very happy, outgoing boy.”
As Rhys was a huge Everton supporter, many Everton players attended his funeral and his coffin was dropped in his team's colours.
But it would be months before Rhys' devastated family would get justice over the cold-hearted killing of their son.
At least 12 people had witnessed Mercer open fire in the car park but not one would make a statement.
Police had heard whispers of Mercer's name on the streets - but no one would point the finger and place him at the scene.
Just three days after Rhys' death, officers arrested Mercer but had to release him due to a lack of evidence against him.
The teenager had planned how he would get away with killing a schoolboy just about to start secondary school with calculated proficiency.
Even before Rhys' mother had arrived at the pub car park to hold her dying son in his last few moments on earth, Mercer had plotted how he would dispose of the gun.
First, he called on a fellow gangster and just 20 minutes after the shots were fired, he had roped in a 17-year-old - who he knew was terrified of him and would never be under suspicion as he had no criminal record.
Mercer gave him the gun and told him to hide it.
An hour after he shot Rhys, Mercer was on his way to a lock up garage in another part of Merseyside where he burned his clothes and doused himself in petrol to remove all traces of gun residue.
By 9pm, he was heading home.
But both Rhys' family and the police refused to give up. They knew who was responsible for killing the 11-year-old - and were determined to prove it.
Mel and Steve gave numerous appeals at Everton matches, urging Rhys' killer to hand himself in to the police.
Officers used bugging devices to gather information about the gang responsible.
After months of painstaking covert surveillance and relentless work on the ground, they realised the 17-year-old had been set up by Mercer.
Merseyside Police spent months pleading with him to help them in return for a new identity and a new home under a witness protection scheme.
And, after a search of his home, they finally found what they were looking for - the gun used to kill Rhys.
In a series of dawn raids, officers arrested the gang who were responsible for Rhys' death and for covering up the murder.
Mercer was jailed for 22 years - and is still behind bars, having served more than half of his minimum 22-year sentence at Frankland Prison in Durham - where fellow inmates include Soham Killer Ian Huntley and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
The earliest date he could be free is 2030, when he will be 40 years old.
Rhys' dad, Steve, told a TV documentary: "At the time we were happy with that tariff but we live that life sentence now.
“There is no end of sentence for us, there just isn’t. We are the ones that suffer, our family is still suffering and will do for the rest of our lives, from the pain of losing Rhys.”
Mercer's mother Janette, aged 49 at the time of the crime, was jailed in 2009 for three years after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice by lying to police about the make of her son's bike, which he was riding when the fatal shots were fired.
Nine other members of the gang were also jailed for their part in the killing, with their sentences totalling 61 years and six months, with a two-year supervision order handed to one of them.
This includes James Yates, who was locked up for seven years for assisting an offender but this was later increased to 12 years after the Court of Appeal deemed it too lenient.
Meanwhile, Gary Kays and Mevin Coy were convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for seven years.
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