Family's 'biggest fear' before man, 19, shot dead

The family of a murdered teenager were hit by two tragedies in the space of six months. Ellis Cox was fatally shot by an unknown group close to Taskers, on the Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree, at around 11.10pm on Sunday, June 23 this year.

A police probe currently indicates Ellis, who is not linked to any criminality, was not the target of the shooting and it could be linked to an ongoing dispute between a group of the teenager’s associates and a rival street gang. Police have made four arrests in connection with Ellis' murder, including a 17-year-old boy from West Derby and a 61-year-old from Huyton.

However, four months on, the family believe the investigation is being held by a “wall of silence”, with people who have information about Ellis’ murder not speaking out. His auntie Julie O’Toole, along with Ellis’ parents Carolyn Cox and Chris Woods, have been tirelessly campaigning to urge anyone who might know something about the teenager’s murder to speak out.

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The family spoke to the ECHO this week as they get set to launch a huge mail drop across the city on Saturday, November 8, to appeal for more information over his murder. Julie, 50, said Ellis was killed just months after the death of his nan, Carol.

She said: “We lost our mum on December 30. She was my sister's best mate, and she lived next door. My mum was diagnosed a couple of years before with cancer, and we all looked after her. We had that opportunity to bring her home, knowing she was going to die, but we were all with her.

"And that, I thought, was the hardest thing I'd ever have to go through. And then this happened. We were getting ready to sell her house but I didn't put it up for sale until the end of May because I couldn't bear it."

On the day Ellis was shot, the 19 year-old had turned up at the house of his auntie, Julie O’Toole, and her husband Kev. Ellis asked them for a bike as he and his friends were planning to get the train to Southport and ride back via the Liverpool Loop Line close to their house, known locally as the Ralla.

Doorbell footage released earlier this week shows him smiling on Julie’s doorstep just before he headed out. The friends got the train from Aintree to Ormskirk.

Officers believe the group hung out around the Edge Hill University campus before getting the train back to Maghull and riding through Melling and Aintree. Their journey took them through the industrial estate towards the Liverpool Loop Line, which led up to where Ellis lived.

Talking through the events of that fateful day, Julie said: “My husband was doing bits in our house, and I was in my sister's. Ellis was there and he was like, ‘oh, have you got a bike?’ I was like, ‘oh God, love, I don't know, we've probably got a few in the shed.’” Despite some reluctance from Kev, Julie persuaded him to give Ellis a lift back to her house and pick up a bike.

“That picture of him on the doorbell footage - he's talking to my husband as he was fixing the wheel for him and he gave him my bike. It was the worst decision ever, but Ellis was adamant he was going to go on the bike ride. I suppose he would have got one from somewhere.

“We both said to him, ‘be careful’, because you think the roads are dangerous and they won't wear helmets, will they? They're too cool for that. That was our biggest fear, when that was it. We would never have dreamt in a million years that something like this would happen.”

Julie says the decision to embark on a bike ride late in the afternoon was somewhat out of character for Ellis. He’d usually spend his spare time going around to his friend’s to watch football or boxing, and a family member would usually give him lifts to and from their houses.

“He said to me they were getting the train to Southport, and then they were going to ride back. I said, ‘oh, it's a bit late’, and he was like, ‘Julie, it's only half four.’ Even though he was 19, we were so protective of him. He never went anywhere. He only ever went to his two best friends at their houses. This was a new thing.”

At 1am, Julie was woken up by her husband and realised he was on the phone to her sister Carolyn. Her memory of what happened next is a bit of a blur.

She said: "My heart dropped and then I was like, ‘is she okay?’ I got the phone off of him and I was talking to my sister and she was saying, Ellis might have been hit, but they don't know whether it's him.

"I was instantly thinking someone's knocked him off his bike. And then she said, there's something about him being shot. I can't even remember getting to the hospital, to be honest, I can't remember any of that.

"The only next thing I can remember after that is the policeman telling us that he'd passed away. My husband had to go and identify him. And that was the last thing I really remember about the hospital. I have two brothers. Apparently I told one of them and my sister's best friend about it. I can't remember any of that. It was horrendous.”

Ellis' family have been relentless in their efforts to keep Ellis’ name out there and encourage people to come forward, from displaying his face on Goodison Park’s big screen to giving talks at Archbishop Beck Catholic College, based on Long Lane, which Ellis used to attend. Despite this, Julie says a lack of people coming forward with information about his murder is preventing his killers from being brought to justice.

She said: “We've been thrown into this world that none of us knew existed. We're very law-abiding. I've seen some things in the past and called Crimestoppers - I thought that was the norm. I've realised how naïve I am.

“I'm actually going into my son's school, which was also Ellis's school, today to talk about this ‘no grass’ culture. Silence isn't an option. If it goes well, I'll be looking to go out further to more local schools.

"It is frustrating and I don't know the reasons why. Maybe it's fear. I don't know, but we're not going to stop until obviously we find who took him from us, it’s as simple as that.”

Tomorrow, Julie, along with Ellis’ parents, other friends and family and officers from Merseyside Police will embark on a mail drop of leaflets. They will walk from L9, close to the loop line and the area Ellis was killed, to the city centre.

The aim is to contact 10,000 households, as well as businesses and people out and about, in a huge appeal for more information about the teenager’s death. People taking part will be wearing hoodies printed with a photo of Ellis’ face along with the slogan ‘silence is not an option’.

The family have already placed banners throughout Walton and Aintree as well as the loop line and surrounding areas which provides detail on how you can get in touch with Merseyside Police and do this anonymously if you must.

Speaking about the event, Julie said: “We're still appealing to witnesses, but we're really wanting to make sure that people understand that I'll get the message across that silence isn't an option because we know that there will be people out there who have heard, have seen, had a whisper, a rumour, whatever it might be.

“My brother's created a route, and we're doing everything we can with the volunteers that we've got between L9 and L1, making sure that we in particular target Walton, Aintree, Rice Lane, and then we'll move through County Road and into town. We're appealing to the delivery drivers who use that loop line. We've been up there many times to put up posters and the traffic that goes through that loop line is crazy.

“It's all to make sure that we keep Ellis’ appeal out there and make sure that we're supporting the police as much as we can because we know how hard they work. We want to do everything that we can to make sure that it stays relevant.

“I'll go and do my food shop and I've got people talking to me, they're telling me things that I've not heard before. The hope of the leaflet drop is that we're going to cover as many of the households as we can, but also hoping to stop and chat to people as we're walking, and see if anyone remembers anything about that night within the vicinity and just try and get as much support as we can.”

Julie is encouraging those who are hiding something to think about Ellis and his family who have faced two tragedies just six months apart. She said: “We've got faith in the police. They're working so hard and doing all they can and we're doing everything we can to support that because our lives have been altered forever.

"Nothing will ever be the same and we're beyond devastated. It's the most horrendous time and we were already in a horrendous situation because we lost our mum. Ellis was so special and such an amazing, kind, good kid that there's no way in the world that we're going to let him down.”

If you have any information, you can visit Merseyside Police's dedicated web page to submit information or footage which can help in the investigation of Ellis’s murder: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/05MP23M53-PO1. You can also contact police via social media @MerPolCC or call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 24000554719.