Kevin Wilson’s heartbroken mum said she couldn’t believe her son was dead until she saw his body
Police are “determined” to find the killer of a teen who was shot in the back and left to die on a cold Wavertree street. It has been more than ten years since Kevin Wilson was murdered in what was believed to be a targeted attack on February 7, 2015.
At the age of just 17, detectives believe Kevin was lured to the scene and shot dead at the junction of Smithdown Road and Holmes Street. What interaction took place, if any, between Kevin and his killers is not known, but it ended with a single bullet from a 9mm Russian Baikal automatic pistol striking the teenager in the back.
Shockingly, as Kevin lay dying, local crook Curtis Connick came across his body and instead of trying to help, swiped the mobile phone he noticed ringing in Kevin’s pocket, later dumping it in a bin near Lime Street station – destroying crucial evidence and sparking a three day search of a rubbish dump as police desperately hunted for the device.
Kevin was a Scotland native who moved to Liverpool and it is believed fell in with a bad crowd. His mum, Jane, has previously spoken to the ECHO and urged the public not to forget him.
Describing the moment she was told of her son’s death by his dad, Paul, in a late night phone call, she said: “I could not take it in. I just could not take it in. My partner, William, had only died five weeks before that, so I could not take it in.
“I stayed up all night, I could not sleep, I could not believe it. I got myself ready, and walked down to the train station. I didn’t know what to do, and the lady from British Transport Police came over and asked if I was ok. I said my son, I need to get to Liverpool, my son’s dead. Then I collapsed.”
Jane, who is from Glasgow but now lives in Cumbria, was taken to Liverpool to “piece together” the devastation. She said: “I had to see him, I had to see him, he was my boy. I didn’t believe it until I saw him lying on the mortuary slab. “
She added: “I think about him every day. He’s got a mum, he’s got a dad, he’s got sisters and brothers. The fact his life was cut so short, that’s what really hurts. We would feel so much better if they caught the guy who did it.”
Although nobody has been jailed for Kevin’s murder a potential breakthrough did come when the murder weapon was uncovered during an open land search. But although violent criminal Malcolm Graham, then 19, was jailed in connection to possessing the Baikal pistol on a different occasion, police and prosecutors accepted he was not involved in Kevin’s killing.
Kevin’s murder is now being treated as a cold case and after ten years Merseyside Police have issued a fresh appeal to find his killer. The force says it is “determined” to find answers to the “cruel and senseless crime.”
Head of the Serious Crime Review Unit, Kevin Clague, said: “Although ten years have now passed since Kevin’s murder, we are still determined to find his killer. This was a cruel and senseless crime that left a family devastated and they are still looking for answers a decade later. We understand that with every year that passes, Kevin’s family have still not had the justice they deserve.
“We know the answers to solving this and bringing the killer to justice lies within our communities and I would ask that people put themselves in the shoes of Kevin’s family. How would they feel if they knew their loved one’s killer was still free and walking the streets?
“There are people out there who know exactly what happened on that night and we need them to find the courage and do the right thing by coming forward and speak up.
“You may have previously felt unwilling to come forward but as the years go by, allegiances change, people move away and may now feel more comfortable coming forward. Any piece of information could be the key to progressing this investigation, however trivial you think it may be.
“We know that people can be reluctant or fearful in coming forward, but please be rest assured there are special measures that we can put in place to protect witnesses. If you have any information, please DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact @CrimestoppersUK anonymously via social media, by calling 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: