A teenage boy has been found not guilty of killing a nine-year-old girl in her home.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, was on trial accused of murder and manslaughter following the death of Aria Thorpe. A jury returned verdicts of not guilty for both charges at Bristol Crown Court earlier.
A pathologist previously told the court Aria died of a single stab wound to her chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare on 15 December 2025.
After her death, the nine-year-old’s family paid tribute to her “lively and bubbly” personality.
Some jurors were visibly emotional as they returned their not guilty verdicts and Aria’s mother left the courtroom immediately afterwards.
The accused did not visibly react to the verdicts.
The 16-year-old had told jurors he and Aria had been playfighting when she moved towards him and the knife he was holding went into her chest.
“I was going to try and make her flinch, so I leaned forward like I was fencing,” he said.
His defence barrister, Andrew Langdon KC, told the jury the boy had “made the worst decision of his life” but did not intend to kill or cause harm to the nine-year-old.
After Aria suffered the fatal injury, the 16-year-old left the house and headed for Worle Railway Station. He said he left because he got “scared” and “panicked”.