Elle Edwards' cousin wiped away tears as she recalls the last time she spoke to her on Christmas Eve.
Chloe Ward was speaking to the BBC for a new documentary which follows the Journey of Tim Edwards and his family's journey in the weeks leading up to the murder trial following Elle's death. In the BBC Breakfast film, titled Killed On Christmas Eve, there are two interviews including Chloe and Elle's best friend Kirby Fraser, who describe her "special laugh".
Elle's cousin began getting upset as she spoke about the last time she spoke to her cousin on Christmas Eve. She told reporter Jayne McCubbin that she tried to send her a message just 10 minutes before Elle was shot dead.
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Jayne asked Chloe: "When did you last speak to Elle?"
She replied: "Christmas Eve. Like 10 minutes before it happened."
She says she's going to get upset before telling the camera "she never opened my last message" and wiping a tear away from her eye. Earlier in the programme she said her cousin's family "was her life".
Chloe said: "No one had a laugh like Elle, it was Elle's special laugh. It was family time over everything, Elle's family was her life."
Elle's best friend from school, Kirby Fraser, who went on to have a child with her brother, Connor, spoke of how Elle "adored" their four-year-old son, Roman.
Kirby Fraser said: "I met Elle in high school and we just instantly clicked. That's how I met her brother Connor and then we had Roman, who is four now and she absolutely adored him.
"She loved him so much. He talks about her and says Elle is in the sky. It just doesn't feel the same, it's silent. You just walk in and you would be greeted with Elle's loud laugh or something silly she would say and its just not there anymore."
The popular beautician was gunned down outside the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey Village on Christmas Eve 2022. Connor Chapman, 23, who opened fire outside the pub, was sentenced to a minimum of 48 years in prison for the murder of "wholly innocent" Elle.
Tim told the BBC how he wants to work towards a positive legacy in the memory of his daughter, setting up a foundation in her name. Referring to other Merseyside victims of gun crime, he spoke of working to help avert the types of tragedies that took his daughter’s life.
He said: "We need to be doing something now. My problem is to stop another Elle Edwards, another Ashley Dale, another Olivia Pratt-Korbel."
Speaking about being involved in projects and work to help stop "these horrendous crimes" he said: "I’m all for it. I’ll do what I can.”
You can watch the BBC Breakfast documentary here.
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