The family of a woman shot outside a pub in Merseyside on Christmas Eve have paid tribute to “the most beautiful and bright star out there”.
No one has yet been charged with the murder of Elle Edwards, who was shot dead at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, on Saturday.
At a press conference on Friday with Edwards’ father, Tim Edwards, police said two people arrested in connection with the alleged murder had been released, as they appealed for information about a Mercedes seen in the pub car park shortly before the shooting.
One of those released from custody, a 30-year-old man from Tranmere in Birkenhead, had been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. The other, a 19-year-old woman from the Rock Ferry area of Wirral, had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
A 31-year-old man arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder remained in custody on Friday.
“We are committed to finding the persons responsible for Elle’s death and putting them behind bars. These people don’t deserve to be walking our streets and don’t deserve to be protected. They belong in prison,” Ch Supt Sue Coombs said at the press conference.
She appealed for anyone with information to come forward. “Silence is never an option. We need you to speak so that we can take action. Let us know who is carrying and storing weapons and let us do the rest. We know that the answers to these lie within our communities.”
Coombs said she was particularly interested in information relating to a dark-coloured Mercedes that was in the Lighthouse car park before the incident. “We want to know where it came from and where it’s gone since then,” she said.
On Friday, the Edwards family released a tribute to Elle, 26, who they described as “the glue that held this big family together”.
They wrote: “There was no one as beautiful as our Elle May, her looks, her laugh and the way she would light up a room as soon as she walked in. She had this way about her that as soon as you met her you just instantly fell in love with her, everyone that met Elle knew how special she was.
“Her laugh was infectious, anyone who was around her had a good time, she loved her life and had so many amazing plans for the future. She was only just getting started. Christmas and our family will never be the same again without her. She was the glue that held this big family together, from all of us.
“We will love and miss her forever. Our Elle May, the most beautiful and bright star out there, forever and always.”
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish