Teenage killer who stabbed to death tragic Leo Ross, 12, in random attack unmasked as judge lifts anonymity order
Kian Moulton has been detained for a minimum of 13 years - a sentence that the victim's mother has slammed as a "joke".
A teenage boy who stabbed a 12-year-old to death at random as he walked home from school has been named as Kian Moulton.
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Leo Ross suffered fatal injuries after he was stabbed in the stomach on a riverside path in the Hall Green area of Birmingham in 2025.
Mr Justice Choudhury agreed to lift anonymity restrictions, telling the court: "This is a matter of substantial public interest.
"Knife crime, particularly amongst youths, is a matter of grave concern. This was an unusual and disturbing pattern of escalating violence against random strangers."
Kian Moulton, who was 14 at the time of the killing and is now 15, also admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to previous attacks on separate victims, as well as having a bladed article on the day he killed Leo.
Moulton has been detained for a minimum of 13 years.
As paramedics battled to try to save Leo, Moulton, who was not known to him, claimed he was riding past on a bike and had made efforts to summon help.
Body-worn video shows him telling a male officer: “I was probably here around about three. I just come out every now and again and ride my bike.”
Telling the officer he was intending to ride towards a mechanic’s shop in the local area, the killer added: “I was gonna come through here ‘cos that leads that way.”
Referring to a woman who had contacted the police, the youth, added: “I seen him and I seen this woman – she was walking down so I told her to call you guys.
“Then I went to get some help from different people, and that’s all I know about it.
“He was laid there like that when I got here, and that’s all I know about it."
After being asked if he had seen anyone near Leo, the killer added: “I’ve seen him and then as I was looking… I didn’t touch him because that could put me in the case.
“But I’ve seen her (a female passer-by) – she was walking there. So then I came and told her to call the police.”
Moulton has been involved in repeated episodes of violence.
He was sent to a specialist pupil referral unit after breaking a teacher's nose and bringing a knife into class.
His subsequent expulsion led to him wandering the area in Birmingham.
Two days before the murder, he had pushed an 82-year-old woman into a river and told her: "I tried to drown you, but now I’m going to kill you".
Moulton then attacked two other lone women.
Police said Leo was singled out by Moulton as he was "much physically bigger" than him, and the schoolboy was an "easy target".
Speaking outside Birmingham Crown Court after the sentencing of her son’s killer, Leo's mother Rachel Fisher said the term imposed is a “joke”.
She said: “It’s a joke. Thirteen years is a complete and utter joke, and it’s just going to keep on happening and keep on happening until something’s done about it.
“These kids aren’t scared. They aren’t scared of the sentence. They’re not worried.
“The local authority and the police have got a lot to answer for.”
In a victim impact statement, Ms Fisher said her son was “truly the most kind, funny and caring little boy”.
Speaking from the witness box, Ms Fisher said her family had been “shattered” by Leo’s death, which happened on his grandmother’s birthday, and his grandfather suffered a heart attack at his funeral.
The defendant looked down at the floor as Ms Fisher sobbed.
She said: “He was just an innocent little boy whose life was taken before he even became a teenager. He was only 12 years old.
“He was my first-born child. I love Leo more than life itself. My life will never be the same again."
She continued: “Everyone has lost the most beautiful little soul, for what? We won’t ever know why such an innocent young boy, just walking home from school, minding his business, was robbed of his life for no reason whatsoever."