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Family photograph
Nine-year-old Aria Thorpe's family said her death had left them "devastated"
A teenage boy accused of stabbing a nine-year-old girl to death has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, is charged with killing Aria Thorpe in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on December 15 last year.
Aria was pronounced dead when police were called to her home in the Mead Vale area of the town at 18:09 GMT that day, and a coroner's court later heard she died from a single stab wound to her chest.
On Friday, the boy appeared before Bristol Crown Court where he spoke only to enter his not guilty plea to murder, and a trial was listed for 15 June.
