‘You don’t deserve this’: Girlfriend’s heartbreaking tribute after teen’s stabbing death

3 months ago 17

The girlfriend of a teenager stabbed to death during a confrontation behind a high school in Sydney’s north-west has left a heartbreaking tribute to her “beautiful boy”.

The 17-year-old was stabbed in the leg about 4.20pm on Monday at a park near Rouse Hill High School. Paramedics frantically attempted resuscitation, but he died at the scene.

A still from the tribute video to the 17-year-old boy allegedly stabbed in Rouse Hill.

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder and appeared in Parramatta Children’s Court on Tuesday.

Posting online, the young girl said her boyfriend would “always be remembered”.

“I love you so much, and you will forever be in my heart. You don’t deserve this and never did,” she wrote alongside a video of the pair.

“I love you … I always will. Fly high, my beautiful boy.”

Mourners lay flowers where the 17-year-old boy died.

The Herald has been in contact with the boy’s family.

The 15-year-old boy charged over the stabbing did not apply for bail when he appeared briefly in court, wearing a black hoodie.

The court heard police had applied to obtain a sample of the boy’s DNA, via a self-administered swab, and to take photographs of parts of the boy’s body. He cannot be named for legal reasons.

Strike Force Crawton has been launched to investigate the boy’s death.

Detectives and officers at the site of the stabbing in Rouse Hill.

Witnesses reported seeing a knife tucked in the waistband of one of the teenagers seen fleeing the scene. It is unclear what kind of knife was used in the stabbing.

Locals laid flowers at the Bruce Purser Reserve on Tuesday morning, while detectives interviewed young people at the scene. Children at the nearby schools were escorted through the gates by staff.

Several locals raised concerns about the increase in youth violence in the area. One resident, Tania, who asked that only her first name be used, said there’d been an increase in crime as the area became more populous with the opening of the Metro.

“It’s a tragic event [but] I’m not surprised. I walk through here on a weekly basis and see evidence of drugs and paraphernalia and that sort of thing,” she said.

“It’s an area where it’s secluded, close to the schools, a hangout for a lot of kids … I see them smoking, socialising. I’ve heard some heated arguments here.”

Hills Police Area commander Superintendent Naomi Moore described the teenager’s death as “senseless”. She said the victim and his friend were approached in the reserve on Caballo Street by a group of two to three young people before a knife was produced.

“I have 17-year-olds at home. This has impacted the core of the community. I have no other words, but it’s a tragedy, and it’s senseless,” she told media on Monday night.

Moore said several female witnesses rendered aid to the 17-year-old during the “horrifically confronting” situation.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was “deeply saddened” by the teen’s death, and extended his “sincere condolences” to his family and friends.

“It is an unimaginable loss, and the whole community will feel the impact,” Minns said.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said she was “deeply saddened” to learn of the boy’s “tragic” death.

“My thoughts and deepest condolences are with the young boy’s family during this extremely difficult time,” Rowland said in a statement.

“There is no place in our community for these acts of senseless violence, and I know this news will be particularly distressing for local families.”

The teenager’s death comes after attempts to crack down on knife crime in NSW.

The NSW government in June 2024 passed “Jack’s Law” – named for 17-year-old Queenslander Jack Beasley, who was stabbed to death in December 2019.

It allows police to stop and scan people with handheld metal-detecting “wands” in designated areas where violent offences involving weapons have occurred in the previous 12 months.

Police began using those powers in December and scanned 13,422 people up to the end of June, finding 193 weapons and laying 222 charges according to the force’s annual report.

More than 2000 of those scans took place at Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west. Daily scans were conducted following the death of 19-year-old Zac McRae at a bus station in the suburb on August 27.