15-Year-Old Sentenced to Life for Murder of 12-Year-Old

A 15-year-old boy identified as Kian Moulton was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 13 years on Tuesday for the murder of 12-year-old Leo Ross, whom he stabbed in an unprovoked attack while the boy walked home from school in Birmingham on January 21, 2025. The incident occurred near the River Cole in Trittiford Mill Park in the Hall Green area, where Leo, a student at Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy in Yardley Wood, suffered a fatal wound to the stomach.

Moulton, who was 14 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty to murder in a January hearing at Birmingham Crown Court. He also admitted to two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on January 19 and 20, assault occasioning actual bodily harm on January 21, and possession of a bladed article. The court heard that the attacks formed part of a three-day pattern of random violence against strangers in the park. Prosecutors detailed how Moulton, riding a bicycle, targeted vulnerable individuals, including three elderly women.

Two days before Leo's death, Moulton pushed an 82-year-old woman into the River Cole, struck her with her walking stick, and told her, "I tried to drown you,...