Families pay tribute to teenagers killed after being struck by car near Birmingham Road

Two West Midlands teenagers, who were tragically killed after a car struck them at the weekend, have been named as their heartbroken families paid tribute to them.

Liberty Charris, aged 16, and Ben Corfield, aged 19, were sadly pronounced dead at the scene on the A457 Oldbury Road on Sunday night.

A blue Nissan Skyline hit a number of pedestrians who had gathered on the A457 Birmingham Road and Oldbury Road near to the junction with Crystal Drive at around 11.30pm on Sunday.

Charris and Corfield suffered serious injuries and both teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene.

A man and woman in their 20s were also injured and taken to hospital.

A 54-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and questioned by investigators. He has been released on police bail and is continuing to assist with ongoing enquiries.

Police have issued a public plea for people not speculate on social media about the circumstances of the collision or post footage, which is distressing for the families involved.

The families of the dead teenagers have issued a request to be left to grieve in private and also paid tribute to Charris and Corfield.

WMP

Charris’ family paid tribute to her saying: “Liberty, our beautiful baby girl and sister.

“So loved by her family and friends, they were all so proud of the gorgeous young lady you were becoming.

“With your heart of gold, bright blue eyes and beaming smile, your aim in life was to make everyone happy, with your funny accents and loud laugh.

“From the moment you were born we were all so in love with you, you loved life and had an amazing future ahead of you.

“Our hearts are shattered into pieces. Shine bright up there our beautiful girl.”

WMP

Corfield’s family, said: “What can we say other than Ben was the light of our lives. He was a larger than life character with a huge heart that was made of gold.

“Nothing will ever heal the massive hole in our lives – our hearts are broken forever.

“We waited so long for Ben to come along and complete our family, and we feel privileged to have had him as our son and brother for the last 19 years.

“Ben, we love you so very much, always and forever. Rest in eternal peace, our boy!”

Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Whilst our hearts and thoughts are with the families of these young people, our focus remains on establishing the full circumstances of the incident.

“Our investigations will be extensive and thorough and we’d like to thank everyone who has spoken to us and passed on information already.

“But we know there were a lot of people gathered in the area at the time and we’d ask anyone else with dashcam footage or any other witnesses to contact us.”