Teenager died of stab wound to heart, inquest told
Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, 17, was attacked in Ipswich and his death is being investigated as a murder.
A teenager died after he was stabbed in the heart as he walked back from the shops, an inquest heard.
Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, 17, was attacked by a group of men in the street in Ipswich on June 2, Suffolk Police said.
He was found injured in Packard Avenue and taken to Ipswich Hospital for treatment where he later died.
Detective chief inspector Mike Brown told the hearing that Tavis’s death is being investigated as a murder.
He said a post-mortem examination recorded the provisional medical cause of death as a stab wound to the heart.
The pathologist noted Tavis “sustained a number of stab wounds, defensive injuries and also an injury to the top of his head”, DCI Brown added.
Tavis was seen with a friend who was using an ATM outside the Co-op store in Nacton Road, around a third of a mile from Packard Avenue, at 4.50pm on the day he was attacked, DCI Brown said.
Suffolk senior coroner Nigel Parsley said: “I would like to express my personal condolences to Tavis’s family and his friends for their tragic loss in these circumstances.”
He adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed “in light of the criminal investigation that’s currently taking place”.
Tavis’s family, who described him as a “well-mannered, polite young man”, have appealed for information to bring those who took his life to justice.
Police arrested eight people in connection with the stabbing.
Two of them face no further action, four people arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder have been bailed until July 30 and two have been charged with murder.
Aristote Yenge, 23 and from Ipswich, and a 16-year-old boy from Colchester who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been remanded in custody ahead of a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on July 27.
Detectives are continuing to appeal for information about the stabbing and have asked witnesses to upload information at mipp.police.uk/operation/804
Alternatively people can call the Suffolk Police Major Investigation Team on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
