Mom of Girl, 7, Killed at Taylor Swift-Themed Event Says She Will ‘Never Feel True Happiness Again'
The mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, who died following a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, England, on July 29, 2024, has said she doesn't think she'll feel "true happiness again, ever" while speaking to ITV's
"I was so proud of her. The effort that she put in everything, the love that she gave, not just [to] us, her friends, her teachers ... her nature was so pure," Jenni Stancombe said during the emotional interview
Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6, also died in the attack. Axel Rudakubana, 18, has since been jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 52 years in prison
The parents of a 7-year-old girl who was fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class event are speaking out.
In an interview with ITV's Good Morning Britain, Jenni Stancombe — who is the mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, who died along with Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6 on July 29, 2024, in the Southport, U.K. attack — insisted it was a "privilege" to be the late youngster's mom.
"I was so proud of her. The effort that she put in everything, the love that she gave, not just [to] us, her friends, her teachers ... her nature was so pure," she added in a clip shared on X.
On Jan. 23, Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to life in prison, with Merseyside Police confirming he'd serve a minimum of 52 years for the murder of the three young girls, according to a news release. He was also charged with the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults.
'It was a privilege to be her mum.' Elsie Stancombe was killed at a Taylor Swift themed dance class, alongside Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King in the Southport attack, last July. Elsie's parents open up to @susannareid100 about her legacy. pic.twitter.com/tvfWAHBxx9
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 10, 2025
Related: Yoga Teacher Was Critically Injured While Protecting Children During Stabbing at Taylor Swift-Themed Event
In the GMB interview, Elsie's parents Jenni and David Stancombe called their daughter "fearless" and "brave" and said she was a "devoted Swiftie" who would watch Swift's Eras Tour concert film "every night" before bed.
"If Elsie knew that Taylor knew her, it would be like all her dreams had come true," Jenni added. Jenni and David said Swift, 35, invited them to her show at Wembley last year and the pop superstar wrote in one of Elsie's books about her.
Jenni, who has set up the charity Elsie's Story with David, insisted, "We feel like it's our duty as her [mom] and dad to continue writing Elsie's story for her."
"So many times we've said: 'We'll never feel true happiness again, ever,' " Jenni added.
"We might just feel a little bit of something when we make another child smile, for Elsie," she continued. "We want to do her proud."
Elsewhere in the interview, Jenni said of Elsie attending the Swift-themed event, "We just dropped her off to dance and make bracelets, that's all we did ... it was something nice for her to do for a couple of hours in the first week of the school holidays."
"We should have never have sent her, but she wanted to go so much," she added, insisting that if they had been there when the attack took place, Elsie wouldn't have died. "I might not be here, but I would never have let that happen," Jenni told presenter Susanna Reid as she broke down in tears.
"I'd swap with Elsie any day," she added.
Bebe and Elsie died in the attack, while Alice later died from her injuries in the hospital. The stabbings took place at The Hart Space community center in Southport. There will be a public inquiry into the murders, the U.K. government announced in a Feb. 5 release.
Bebe's parents, who have not shared their names or shown their faces for privacy reasons, also gave their first TV interview since losing their daughter in the attack to GMB.
"She's with me in every way," Bebe's mom insisted in a clip shared to X. "She was my mini-me."
In the interview, Bebe's mom spoke about their last moments with their daughter at Alder Hey's Children's Hospital. Before saying their goodbyes, they went through her usual bedtime routine, which included reading her favorite book, Jack and the Beanstalk, per The Independent.
'She was in her pajamas, we read to her and the family visited her. The final day we lay next to her and we did our final goodbye,' Bebe's mother told GMB.
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As well as the murder and attempted murder charges, Rudakubana was also charged with "possession of a knife in a public place, production of a biological toxin namely ricin contrary to Section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974 and possession of information, namely a PdF file entitled 'Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing, or preparing, an act of terrorism," per the Jan. 23 police release.
The day after the stabbings, Swift shared a message on her Instagram Stories.
The singer wrote in the July 30 post, "The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I'm just completely in shock... The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders."
"These were just little kids at a dance class," she added. "I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."
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