Louis-Ryan Menezes: Teen stabbed boy to death after Facebook row

Amari Smith claimed he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed a fellow teenager to death

A teenager has been found guilty of killing a 17-year-old boy after a row over comments made on Facebook.

Amari Smith, 18, stabbed Louis-Ryan Menezes once in the chest with a "hunting-style knife" in Northampton in May 2018, a court heard.

Smith, of Penfold Close, Northampton, was cleared of murder by a jury at the town's crown court but found guilty of manslaughter.

He has been remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

Smith, who was 16 at the time of the killing, claimed he acted in self-defence as he thought Louis was going to stab him.

Louis was called a "popular, caring son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin" by his family

Louis was stabbed in a stairwell on Drayton Walk, Kingsthorpe on 25 May 2018 and was taken to hospital, where he died a short time later.

Det Insp Stuart Hitchon said the killing "demonstrates what can be the tragic consequences of carrying a knife".

"This was a tragic case involving the loss of a very young life and the investigation has been a complex one, all the more painstaking because the main witnesses were just children at the time of the incident," he said.

Forensics officers at the scene of the stabbing on Drayton Walk

Louis' family called him a "popular, caring son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin whose life was cruelly cut short".

"Louis' death has left a huge gap in our lives and the pain of losing him is so great it will never go away," a family statement said.