by “Fearless” is the word used by those who knew Brianna Ghey as they pay tribute to the transgender teenager, as they try to come to terms with her brutal killing.
The 16-year-old’s mother has celebrated her fearlessness as she became “who she wanted to be”, and the school’s headteacher, Emma Mills, described her as “tall and proud and confident in who she is”. A boy and girl were convicted this week of their murder following the fatal knife attack in Cheshire Park in February.
Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, praised the trans community for their “outstanding” support after her daughter’s death, which led to an outpouring of grief earlier this year.
Speaking to The Independent Before the trial, Miss Ghey, 36, described her daughter’s coming out as “not really a big deal” and that the 14-year-old’s transition was relatively gradual. Brianna started letting her hair grow long, wearing make-up, and then told her family she wanted to change her pronouns, Ms Ghey explained, stressing that it was not an obstacle for her daughter.
“As long as your children are happy, you will do whatever you have to do to help them,” she said.
Miss Ghey explained that she was very close to Brianna and her older daughter as she was a single parent for much of the girls’ childhood. Her close-knit family was torn apart on February 11 this year when the police came to Ms Ghey’s door to inform her that her child had been found stabbed to death in Linear Park in Culcheth, a village near her hometown of Warrington, Cheshire.
“That’s the kind of news you never want to hear – it was absolutely terrifying,” Ms Ghey said. “It was so tragic that I felt like I was going to die myself.”
As an introvert, Miss Ghey initially shied away from the intense interest in her daughter’s case. “But I’m trying to push myself to change, to be a little more like Brianna, because she was confident and willing to be herself and put herself out there,” she said.
The 16-year-old’s dream was to become famous on TikTok, and she loved doing make-up tutorials for her more than 31,000 followers on the social media platform. “She was very, very outgoing”, said Esther. “A very high-energy, funny, quick kid.”
Although Cheshire Police do not believe Brianna was killed because she was transgender, it will ultimately be up to the trial judge, Mrs Justice Yip, to determine whether hatred of transgender people had anything to do with her death when the killers in the case are sentenced new. year.
Hundreds of mourners attended a vigil across the UK to remember the schoolgirl after her horrific murder. Some of those gathered in her hometown wore rainbow flags over their shoulders as they laid flowers and wrote tributes on a placard placed in the town square.
Ms Ghey described the support her heartbroken family had received as they sought healing from unimaginable people in the months following Brianna’s death.
“There has been great support from the trans community, and from the general public as well,” she said.
The family had to endure a harrowing four weeks when a girl and a boy with a “thirst to kill” stood trial for Brianna’s murder at Manchester Crown Court.
The pair – identified only as girl X and boy Y, who are now 16 but were 15 at the time – were convicted on Wednesday of committing the “frenzied and frantic” murder, and face mandatory life sentences. On Thursday, the judge ruled that an order barring the identification of the defendants, based on their age, would be lifted when they are sentenced on February 2.
Speaking outside court on Wednesday, Miss Ghey said her daughter’s killers had not shown “an ounce of remorse”, and that any sympathy she once felt for her had been lost as a result. “To know how scared my fearless child was when she was alone in that park with someone she called her friend will haunt me forever,” Miss Ghey added as she held tears back.
She ended her statement by saying her family would like to ask for “healing space” for the next few weeks, but promised she would be back at the end of January to continue campaigning for better mental health support for young people and their families.
Ms Ghey previously told The Independent She launched the campaign in memory of her daughter, who suffered from poor mental health, including anxiety.
Brianna Ghey’s: Peace in Mind appeal aims to raise money, partly through a GoFundMe fundraiser, for the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), with the mission to introduce mindfulness training into every school in the UK.
“There are so many other young people struggling with mental health issues today,” said Miss Ghey, who has been practicing mindfulness for eight years.
“It gave me that strength when such a tragedy happened,” she said, referring to Brianna’s death. “And I want others to benefit from the advantages I’ve had.”
