Woman stabbed in Birmingham bus stop attack dies

A police car is parked in front of a blue forensics tent erected on the street outside Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre. It is at night and street lights are on.Alamy

Katie Fox died days after the attack on Smallbrook Queensway in Birmingham

Chloe HughesShannen HeadleyBridie AdamsWest Midlands and Tania Sanghaat Birmingham Magistrates' Court

A woman who was stabbed in the neck in an unprovoked attack at a bus stop in Birmingham has died, police have confirmed.

Katie Fox, 34, was targeted in Smallbrook Queensway, just outside the Bullring shopping centre, shortly before 21:00 GMT on Friday.

Djeison Rafael, 21, appeared before Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday charged over the attack.

He was previously accused of attempted murder, but following Ms Fox's death, the charge has been updated to murder.

The 21-year-old, of Rosedale Avenue, Smethwick, is also charged with two counts of causing actual bodily harm on 27 October and 7 November, possession of a Stanley blade and assaulting a detention escort officer.

Mr Rafael, who appeared before District Judge John Bristow, was told to be quiet as he interrupted the six-minute hearing multiple times.

He was told he was not going to be asked to enter any pleas because the offences were too serious to be dealt with by the magistrates' court.

The case was sent to Birmingham Crown Court for a hearing on 12 November.

A blue police tent is on a pavement and cordoned off by blue and white police tape. There are two police officers standing inside the taped area wearing black hats and yellow high-visibility yellow jackets. There is a bus driving past in the background.

The attack happened opposite the main entrance to Birmingham New Street station

The force said officers would be around the city centre on Monday to offer reassurance. They added that investigators were supporting the victim's family.

Detectives are appealing for witnesses who may have seen Mr Rafael, who they described as a black British national, and is believed to have been wearing an all-grey tracksuit, black hat, trainers and rucksack.

The stabbing happened outside the Bullring shopping centre, opposite the main entrance to Birmingham New Street station.

Police said they were treating it as an "unprovoked attack" and Det Insp James Nix said they were working to understand why it had happened.

West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster said: "This abhorrent and brutal attack is utterly shocking."

He said tackling knife crime was his "top priority" and there had been "significant reductions" over the last year.

"However, I emphasise that I am not remotely complacent," he said. "One victim of knife crime is one too many."

"We are absolutely committed to constant and unremitting and relentless action."

Red and white blocks are blocking off a pavement and there is blue and white police tape. A silver bus stop is behind the tape and there is a blue police tent on the pavement beyond it.

Extra officers were patrolling the city centre on Monday

Shalini Doal, who works nearby, told the BBC she had seen the emergency response when she finished her shift at about 22:00 GMT on Friday.

She described the scene as "quite chaotic" and said she and her colleagues were worried for their safety.

Eleni Nazou, who also works in the city, said she had been at the bus stop at about 19:00 GMT that evening when travelling home. She said that when she heard the stabbing had happened just two hours later, she imagined: "It could have been me."

"It did make me feel unsafe and a bit more guarded," she said. "I don't know how I can protect myself."

A woman with dark tied back hair and wearing gold earrings and a dark green waterproof coat is standing on a busy street blurred in the background.

Eleni Nazou was at the bus stop on her way back from work just two hours before the attack

Ashley Birks, from Stoke-on-Trent, said he came to Birmingham fairly regularly to see his girlfriend, who lives in the city, and was concerned about what had happened.

"It makes me worried for my girlfriend," he said.

"She doesn't drive and works at all of the big music venues... and to think something completely unprovoked [happened], you know, it's horrible."

A blue police tent on a pavement is surrounded by blue and white police tape. A police officer is standing guard wearing a black hat and yellow high-visibility jacket.

Police said they believed the attack was "unprovoked"

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