A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 42-year-old man who was stabbed to death.
The un-named teenager is being held along with four others following the death of delivery driver Darren Kelly, 42, in Basildon, Essex.
Mr Kelly suffered fatal stab wounds on Tuesday following an ‘altercation’ with a group of youths in the street.
Despite the efforts of paramedics he died at the scene.
Essex Police have confirmed that five people have been arrested on suspicion of Mr Kelly’s murder and are in custody.
They include a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, both from Basildon.
A 20-year-old man, 17-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl all from Pitsea, Basildon, are also being held.
Mr Kelly, 42 from Voysey Gardens, Basildon, has not been officially named by police.
However relatives yesterday spoke of their shock at his murder.
Today (Thurs) workmen were seen searching drains near where Darren Kelly was murdered on Tuesday evening(20/10)
It is believed they were searching for the murder weapon.
Neighbours fear Mr Kelly tried to stop youths who might have been causing trouble on the estate.
Neighbour Samantha, 26, said “There’s a park around the corner and the youths were probably hanging there.
“He probably turned around said something to them like ‘be quiet’ – that’s all it takes these days, shamefully.
“The kids all come out from school and go to the park after school and there are a few youths there in the evening. I suppose it’s somewhere for them to hang out.”
Another neighbour said that she found it frightening to walk around the streets at night and teenagers were often setting fire to the bins around the nearby park.
Chloe Jones, 19, who lives in a cul-de-sac around the corner from when the attack took place, said: “Me and mum were walking the dogs at about half nine and as we came back we saw a lady assisting the man and didn’t think anything of it.
“What was weird was there was no one about. We saw two people walking their dogs but that was it.
“It’s very scary – it’s right on my doorstep.”
Another neighbour said: “A lot of people walk around here.
“If he’s from Felmores he could have been down to Pitsea. You can cut through here. There are lots of routes here that are shortcuts.”
