Bebe King’s family also called six-year-old their ‘light and joy’ while Elsie Dot’s parents describe her as ‘born special’. The family of one of the girls murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport have opened up about their final goodbye with their daughter when they read her a bedtime story. Paying tribute to their “light and joy” Bebe King, six, her parents also said that “whatever she did she was going to move mountains”, while the parents of seven-year-old Elsie Dot described their daughter as “born special”, “fearless”, and of such a “pure” nature that she “didn’t know bad”.
![[Elsie Dot Stancombe with her mother Jenni, father David and younger sister Rosie, aged three]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/08/23/10/Elsie-Dot-Stancombe-and-family.jpg)
In their first television interview since they lost their six-year-old in the horror mass knife attack last summer, Bebe’s parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said their daughter was dressed in her pyjamas in hospital when they spent their last moments with her doing her bedtime routine including reading her favourite book. They told Good Morning Britain: “We lay next to her and did our final goodbye. It was a gift and something that we cherish. We read Jack and the Beanstalk with all the accents.”.
The parents of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, told the programme they were not ready to speak after their daughter became the third child to die in the attack at the Hart Space on 29 July, although they said they supported the other parents. The families are calling for answers to the many questions that were raised after what happened to their girls, in the hopes that these will bring change and improved protections for other children.
They have also welcomed plans, announced on 21 January by home secretary Yvette Cooper, for a public inquiry into killer Axel Rudakubana, who has been given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years. Speaking of their “strong and kind” daugher, Bebe’s parents told GMB: “I really hope that this wasn’t all for nothing, that in spirit she can still have an impact on the world, in the future protecting children.
“Since day one, we said we have to live for her, we have to live how she would’ve wanted us to live and make the most of our life. It’s important that we choose to push forward with life and live – for her... “I want her to be this light and joy and not let whatever happened define her.”. They said the sentencing should not have been broadcast as there was too much detail on the girls’ injuries and this is not how they want them to be remembered.
Jenni and David Stancombe, parents of seven-year-old Elsie Dot, described the “guilt” they have endured after dropping their daughter off at that dance class. “We just dropped her off to dance and make bracelets, it was something nice for her to do in the summer holidays… We should never have sent her but she wanted to go so much.”. Ms Stancombe broke down on tears as she told GMB she would have fought to the death for Elsie if she had been at the Hart Space. “I might not be here, but I’d never have let that happen,” she said.
Bebe’s mother described her daughter as “my best friend”. She said: “We almost had a hidden language we’d just look at each other and know what the other thinks.”. The pair spoke of Bebe’s love for singing and dancing as well as for Taylor Swift, especially the artist’s song Love Story, which she used to sing “full belt in the car” and dance along to in front of the mirror. Both families revealed they met with Swift at Wembley Stadium in the weeks after the attack, with Bebe’s parents describing the singer as “very lovely” and offering “light in the dark”.
