Transgender Girl's Alleged Killers Go on Trial

The trial for two teenagers accused of killing British trans teen Brianna Ghey started today in a Manchester courtroom.

Ghey, 16, a high school student who also posted videos to TikTok, was found suffering from multiple stab wounds in a wooded park in Warrington earlier this year. Two local youths, a boy from Leigh and a girl from Warrington, were quickly arrested and both pleaded not guilty to murder charges at earlier court hearings. The two accused teens, now 16 but 15 at the time of Ghey’s murder, cannot be named due to their age. The boy is instead identified as X and the girl as Y in public proceedings.

Ghey’s parents were present at court today for the trial. Y wore a dress and cardigan sweater while X wore black slacks and shirt and a grey tie in court today, according to the Standard. Potential jurors were given questionnaires. Judge Amanda Yip cautioned jurors against allowing biased or misinformed opinions to influence their responsibilities in the case.

“There was quite a bit of press reporting and social media coverage at the time, one feature that was given some prominence was the fact that Brianna was transgender,” Yip said, according to the Standard. ““If you did see things you may have even formed some initial uninformed views about the case.”

Police said Ghey was discovered by passersby on a path in Culcheth Linear Park just after 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 11. She had been stabbed multiple times. Medical personnel were called but Ghey was pronounced dead at the scene. The two youths were arrested on February 15. Police provided few details about the crime and the accused, but did describe Ghey’s murder as a “targeted attack” during the investigation, according to Planet Radio. The two have been held in pretrial detention since their arrest.

Ghey had thousands of followers on TikTok where she often talked about being bullied in school for being trans. Her family remembered her as a “much-loved daughter, granddaughter, and baby sister.” Ghey’s mother, Esther, told the Daily Mail her daughter dreamed of becoming a star on TikTok.

“I think one of her main goals in life was to be famous, and she wanted to be TikTok famous,” Esther said of her daughter. She just absolutely loved the attention. I remember her coming downstairs when one of her TikToks, in inverted commas, ‘blew up.’ And she was absolutely over the moon with all of the attention that she would receive.”

The trial will continue after jury selection and is expected to last up to four weeks.