The heartbroken family of a teenager who was murdered have described the pain of missing him on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Connor Brown died after he was stabbed in an alleyway near the Gatsby's pub in Sunderland on February 24, 2019. The 18-year-old had stepped in to defend others.
Leighton Barrass, then 20, was jailed for a minimum of 20 years for Connor's murder. His accomplice Ally Gordon, also 20, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for manslaughter.
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Following Connor's death, his parents Tanya and Simon vowed to continue his legacy. They launched the Connor Brown Trust to help young people and prevent knife crime in the community.
On the fourth anniversary of Connor's passing, the couple expressed the heartache of losing their son and the pain of missing him everyday.
In a touching social media post, they said: "Another year has passed, but not a single second has gone by where we haven’t thought about our beautiful boy Connor. People say time is a healer, but for us, every day that passes is just another reminder of the things you have missed.
"Birthdays, Christmas's, weekends at the football match with your friends, lads holidays…. every single day that goes by we miss you and grieve for the life you would have lived if your life wasn’t cruelly taken. He is the reason behind everything we do, we miss him more than words can say and our hearts are broken without him."
Connor's parents said they missed his cheeky, infectious smile and the way he would light up a full room. They also said they missed his laugh, bubbly personality, never ending appetite and kind heart.
They added: "There is not a thing we don’t miss, and we long for the day where we get to be with him again. For now though, we continue to get up, stay strong and work tirelessly to make sure what happened to Connor does not happen again.
"We love you with all of our hearts, our beautiful, precious boy."
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