Who was Rhys Jones and when was he killed? Schoolboy murdered by Sean Mercer in Liverpool in 2007
EVERTON fan Rhys Jones was tragically shot and killed as he walked home from football practice in 2007.
Here's the story of the shocking murder and how his killers were caught.
Who was Rhys Jones?
Rhys Jones was an 11-year-old schoolboy from Liverpool.
The son of parents Stephen, from Liverpool, and Melanie Jones, from Wrexham, he was tragically killed just one month before his twelfth birthday.
Rhys had just left Broad Square Primary School on the city’s Norris Green housing estate and was due to start at Fazakerley High School in September 2007.
People who knew him, such as his teachers and neighbours, said he was a friendly and popular boy.
He was also a massive football fan, supporting Everton FC, where he, his brother and his dad had season tickets.
What happened to Rhys?
Rhys was senselessly killed as he walked across a pub car park in Liverpool on August 22, 2007.
The sports-mad youngster was heading home alone after football practice at 7.30pm in broad daylight when a hooded youth cycled by and fired three shots from a handgun.
One struck Rhys in the back and his distraught mum rushed to the scene when she heard what had happened.
Paramedics tried for over an hour-and-a-half to save Rhys, but he was later pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
After months of investigations and arrests, 18-year-old Sean Mercer – a member of the Croxteth Crew gang – was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 22 years.
Fellow gang members, including James Yates, Nathan Quinn, Melvin Coy, Dean Kelly and Gary Kays were also convicted of assisting an offender.
As Rhys lay dying Yates helped Mercer dispose of his bike, clothes and the gun he had provided him with just before the shooting.
When was Rhys killed and why?
Mercer’s “Crocky Crew” were involved in a tit-for-tat turf war with the Strand Gang, aka the “Nogga Dogz”, from the neighbouring Norris Green estate.
There had been more than 20 reports of shots from cars or bikes between 2004 and 2007.
On August 22, 2007, Mercer was told three members of the rival gang had been seen on Crocky Crew territory.
Mercer raced to the location on his BMX, armed with the Smith & Wesson .455 revolver from the First World War.
He fired three shots. The second of which hit Rhys in the back.
None of his intended targets were hit.
Rhys Jones Murder
Who is James Yates and is he going to be released from prison?
Known to his friends as "Yatesy", James Yates, now 30, was a member of the Croxeth Crew gang.
He gave killer Sean Mercer the Smith and Wesson gun with which he shot Rhys.
As Rhys lay dying, Yates helped Mercer dispose of his bike, clothes and the gun he had provided him with mere minutes before the shooting.
He was given a 12-year sentence but won parole early after convincing officials that he is no longer a threat to society.
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