Jodie Chesney murder: 16-year-old boy charged over fatal stabbing of girl in London park

Follows the arrest of 20-year-old man also charged over schoolgirl’s death

Jodie Chesney, 17, died after being stabbed in the back (Metropolitan Police)

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of Jodie Chesney in east London, the Metropolitan Police said.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, is set to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

A 20-year-old man, Manuel Petrovic of Romford, was also arrested and charged with her murder last week. He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Another teenager, an 18-year-old man from Romford, is being held in police custody on suspicion of the 17-year-old’s murder, police said.

He was one of four people arrested on Sunday as part of the probe into the teen’s death.

A 50-year-old man and 38-year-old woman, both from Dagenham in east London, and a 17-year-old boy, were all held on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Ms Chesney’s death has prompted fresh anguish about the high levels of knife crime across England and Wales, particularly in London.

The 17-year-old was playing music with friends near a children’s playground in Romford’s Harold Hill on 1 March when she was knifed from behind in a seemingly motiveless attack.

She was pronounced dead just over an hour after officers were called at about 9.25pm. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of the Girl Scout’s death as trauma and haemorrhage.

Detectives continue to investigate the stabbing.

The Met has asked anyone with information about her death to call Homicide and Major Crime Command’s Incident Room on 020 8345 3775.

They can also tweet MetCC or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.