A ten-year-old girl who was found dead at a house had been in care until just days before her death, residents claimed today – as the first picture of the young victim emerged.
The child, named locally as Shay Kang, had been seen playing with children in the cul-de-sac on Sunday evening, just hours before police called to the property where she was living with her mother.
It is thought that teachers at her primary school instigated a welfare check when Shay failed to register at the school near her home in Rowley Regis, West Midlands.
Police discovered the child at the address, in the corner of the cul-de-sac, at lunchtime on Monday.
Neighbour Jordan Trueman, 24, said: ‘I knew the girl, she often played out in the street. She was playing out there on Sunday night with friends, till about 9pm.
The child, named locally as Shay Kang, had been seen playing with children in the cul-de-sac where she lived on Sunday evening, just hours before police called at the new-build property where she was living with her mother
Neighbours left tributes to Shay after she was found dead at a house on Monday
Unicorn teddy bears and other toys were left outside the house where the 10-year-old was found dead
One of the tributes to Shay, says ‘Rest easy Princess’
‘The school welfare teachers came round at lunchtime, I guess because she hadn’t turned up to class.
‘They looked through the letter box and were shouting ‘hello, hello’.
‘Then they must have called the police because the cops turned up soon after.’
Local resident Laura Perry, 32, said: “Our neighbour knows the family and said Shay had been in care.
‘She only went back to her mum last week apparently. It’s so tragic.
Neighbours said the child’s mother ‘kept herself to herself’ and rarely left the property.
West Midlands Police arrested a 33-year-old woman – said to be known to the child – on suspicion of murder.
One mother, who lives three doors down from the murder scene, said she could ‘cry for’ the little girl.
She said: ‘It’s heartbreaking. I could cry for her [the little girl]. I didn’t know her or her mum but I had seen the little girl out playing last week. She seemed a bit shy but just a normal kid.’
Another resident, who did not want to be named, added: ‘I last saw the little girl a couple of weeks ago walking in the street. From what people say she was a quiet little girl who spent most of her time with her family.’
Well-wishers left stuffed animals and tributes to the little girl outside the house she was found in.
One tribute read, ‘Shay. You will be soo missed by everyone’, while another said, ‘Rest easy princess. Romeo, Jess, Ant and Kyren-Lee.’
A third said, ‘RIP. Gone too soon,’ while a fourth read, ‘RIP. Love from Albert. We will miss you.’
