The murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Mom Cheryl's anguished screams revealed after 9-year-old was shot
DOVECOT, LIVERPOOL: Olivia Pratt-Korbel's mother screamed "she's dying" after the nine-year-old was shot by a gunman who barged into the family home, a murder trial heard today. A neighbor told the court that Cheryl Korbel was "completely inconsolable" as she begged someone to get a towel outside her house in Dovecote, Liverpool.
The mother, who was shot in the hand while desperately trying to close the front door, begged to be taken to the same hospital as her daughter but was instead taken somewhere else, jurors heard. Neighbors later told police that Korbel was "completely inconsolable" when she found out Olivia had been shot. One witness said they saw her come outside crying, and saying, "She's dying, she's been shot in the chest. Has anyone got a towel?" as reported by DailyMail.
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Witnesses said Olivia's mother Cheryl was brought out on a stretcher moments after armed police rushed her from her Liverpool home to nearby Alder Hey children's hospital. The 46-year-old was "shouting" to police that "she wanted to go to Alder Hey with her child," according to a statement read to the jury today, March 9. Korbel, on the other hand, was taken to Aintree Hospital. Olivia was pronounced dead approximately an hour after arriving at Alder Hey.
'Mom, I'm scared'
On August 22 last year, Olivia was in bed at the family home in Liverpool but came downstairs after hearing loud bangs in the street outside, saying, "Mom, I'm scared," as MEAWW reported earlier. The murder trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that as her mother tried to barricade the front door, alleged gunman Thomas Cashman fired a shot that hit the schoolgirl instead of its intended target, Joseph Nee.
After firing another shot that struck the doorframe, the 34-year-old gunman "garden-hopped" until he arrived at the nearby home of a woman with whom he had previously had a sexual relationship, jurors were told. Jurors were also read dramatic eyewitness accounts from neighbors who watched in horror as shots rang out in their street, as reported by DailyMail.
Cashman denies murdering Olivia
Lisa Boylan, who was sitting in a parked car on the road, saw a man in a grey tracksuit run past, begging, "Don't, lad." He was being pursued by a black-clad man about 8ft behind him, carrying a black handgun and hiding his face behind a balaclava, she told police. "I couldn't believe what happened in front of me, it all happened so fast." Cashman, of West Derby, Liverpool, denies murdering Olivia, attempting to murder Nee, and intentionally injuring her mother. He also denies two counts of attempting to endanger life with a firearm. The trial is still ongoing.
