A landmark moment has been reached in the case of Olivia Pratt-Korbel as Merseyside Police charge a suspect with her murder.
The nine-year-old’s death drew widespread condemnation in August, as well as numerous appeals for information from the public and with hundreds of thousands of pounds offered as a reward to help catch her killer.
Here is a timeline of events in the case:
-August 22:
Olivia Pratt-Korbel is shot and killed shortly after 10pm when a gunman – pursuing another man – forces his way into her home in Dovecot, Liverpool.
The pursued man, who was also shot, is taken to hospital by friends in a black Audi as Olivia and her mother lie wounded.
Olivia, hit in the chest by a bullet, dies in hospital, while her mother, Cheryl Korbel, was shot in the wrist.
-August 23
Merseyside Police name Olivia as the shooting victim, saying her death is “an absolute tragedy” that “crosses every single boundary”.
-August 24
The man pursued into Olivia’s house is named as 35-year-old Joseph Nee, a convicted burglar from Dovecot.
-August 30
An inquest into Olivia’s death opens at Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool.
It hears how a police officer attempted to save her life by covering the gunshot wound with his hand, as he carried the nine-year-old to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
-September 12
Merseyside Police say that they have arrested and bailed nine suspects in the fortnight since Olivia’s shooting.
They also embark on an “extensive land search” for the murder weapon at West Derby Golf Club, assisted by a drone unit and underwater search team.
-September 13
Olivia’s headteacher reveals that her classmates have been provided with counselling after returning to school from their summer holidays.
“They are devastated at the loss of their friend, they truly are, but the counselling has definitely helped,” Rebecca Wilkinson, of St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School in Huyton, said.
-September 14
Lord Ashcroft, founder of the charity Crimestoppers, offers £50,000 for information leading to the conviction of Olivia’s killer.
-September 15
Mourners turn out for Olivia’s funeral in pink ties, jackets, scarves and bows after being asked by her family to wear a “splash of pink”.
Cheryl Korbel, who said her daughter “touched so many people’s hearts”, carries a pink teddy bear into the service.
-September 21
The reward for finding Olivia’s killer is raised to £200,000 with the intervention of a private donor.
-October 1
Almost six weeks after Olivia’s death, police charge 34-year-old Thomas Cashman of Grenadier Drive, West Derby, with her murder.
He will appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Monday alongside Paul Russell, 40, of Snowberry Road, West Derby, who is charged with assisting an offender.
