Police name two teenagers who died when they were struck by a car
Liberty Charris, aged 16, and 19-year-old Ben Corfield were pronounced dead at Oldbury in the West Midlands after a car struck a group of people.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Police have released the names of two teenagers who died when a car struck a group of people, leaving two other victims with life-threatening injuries.
Liberty Charris, aged 16, and 19-year-old Ben Corfield, were both pronounced dead at the scene on the A457 Oldbury Road in Oldbury, near Birmingham, on Sunday night.
West Midlands Police said specialist liaison officers are offering support to the families of Liberty and Ben.
A police statement said the families wished to be left to grieve in private, and asked people not to speculate on social media about the circumstances of the collision, or to post footage.
Liberty’s 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.”
In a statement issued by the West Midlands force, Ben’s family stated: “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.”
Whilst our hearts and thoughts are with the families of these young people, our focus remains on establishing the full circumstances of the incident
Police believe a blue Nissan Skyline hit a number of pedestrians who were gathered near to the junction with Crystal Drive at around 11.30pm.
A man and woman in their 20s were also injured and taken to hospital, where they remain in a stable condition.
A 54-year-old arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving has been questioned by investigators. He has been released on police bail and is continuing to assist with inquiries.
Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the region’s 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.”