THE mother of the boyfriend of murdered teenager Nikitta Grender said yesterday her son was “broken” following her death as the childhood sweethearts were getting ready to become parents.

Kerry Evans, 36, said Kelsey-May was due on February 17, the day her son, Ryan Mayes, was due to turn 18: “This baby was everything to them, the baby made them even closer it's just so tragic, I can't see how he's going to rebuild his life.”

The couple had planned for the baby and Miss Evans said they had been getting ready for the new arrival and had a nursery in the flat.

She said: "It's their first child and they were over the moon, everything was ready down to the clothes in drawers. Everything was ready for this baby to come now it's been taken away, it's terrible.

“It is just so tragic, I can't put into words how cruel this world can be - he's broken, there's no words to describe how he's feeling.”

Miss Evans said the couple got together when Ryan was 14 and described them as "childhood sweethearts" who could not wait to become parents and said Miss Grender's family treated Ryan like a son: “They loved each other absolutely, if they could keep the rain off each other, they would.”

Yesterday, Miss Grender's parents, Paul and Marcia, urged people to come forward to help track down the person who stabbed their daughter to death.

They issued a statement in a bid to help police identify and track down the person responsible for their daughter's death.

The tribute said: "As a close family we are trying to come to terms with the tragic events which have led to the untimely death of our beautiful daughter Nikitta and grand daughter Kelsey-May.

"We wish to appeal for any persons with information to contact the police in an effort to find out why this has happened. We ask to be left alone at this time with Nikitta and Kelsey-May's family to come to terms, if possible, with the tragic events which have taken our daughter and grand child from us."