Three young girls who shared a love of dancing and performingpublished at 11:43 BST
11:43 BST
Image source, Family handouts
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King were killed during the attack at a children’s Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport on 29 July 2024.
All three girls shared a love for dance and performing. Featuring interviews with their parents taken across nine months, a BBC documentary revealed how they grieved for their daughters and set up legacy projects in their names.
The families didn’t know each other before the tragedy, but Lauren King, mum of Bebe, said meeting up since they died has been “crucial to our survival” and a “blessing”.
Bebe’s parents said she lit up every room she entered. “She was totally selfless,” her dad Ben said.
Media caption,
Home videos give personal glimpse into lives of Alice, Bebe and Elsie
In a victim impact statement read in court during the killer’s sentencing, Alice’s parents described their daughter as “perfect in every way”.
“Loved her school, her friends. Music, dance, colourful pens and friendship bracelets. She loved Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Sabrina Carpenter,” the statement read on their behalf said.
Elsie’s mother Jenny said in her own impact statement she had lost her “best friend”, and described her daughter as an “extraordinary person”.
The legacy projects established for each of the girls include Alice’s WonderDance, set up by the Aguiars to support young performers, Elsie’s Story, a charitable trust to support others in the Southport area, and Bebe’s Hive, a creative centre that offers support to grieving children.