TRAGEDY – A 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Bristol alongside another teenager had lost his father to Covid two years ago, his devastated grandmother revealed today.
Mason Rist died alongside Max Dixon, 16, after they were attacked on Saturday night by an alleged gang in Knowle West at around 11.20pm.
His Last Request
A witness described how Mason begged ‘help me’ as he lay dying in her arms.
Today, Mason’s grandmother Gail Iles revealed that the tragedy was the latest to hit family after his father, Shayne Rist, died unexpectedly in hospital on December 29, 2021 after contracting Covid.
A death noticed described Shayne’s death as a ‘huge loss’ and said he would be ‘greatly missed’ by everyone who knew him.
Kristy Kidd, a local resident, today told how she was first on the scene and ran from a bus to try and help a fatally injured Mason.
She said: ‘He fell into my ex-partner’s arms and then onto the floor. I gave him my blanket and pillow and stayed with him.
‘He looked up at me and said ”help” and I hugged him. He was as white as a ghost. My head is such a mess right now it was horrible and I can’t believe they died. I want to let his family know that he wasn’t alone and me and my ex Scott stayed with him by his side.’
Max was Found Later
Ms Kidd said she did not realise Max had also been stabbed until someone else found him further along the road. She described herself as ‘broken’ and feeling like ‘I could have done more’.
Max’s sister, Kayleigh, today paid tribute to her ‘baby brother’, calling him ‘one of a kind’.
‘You sleep tight. A beautiful, kind soul gone. Just taken 16 years so young and innocent oh my heart is broken,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘I really hope you know how much we love you. How much I love you. ‘You will be missed kiddo I’ll always look out for you in every sunset, shine bright lil’ bro.’
More People are Arrested
Police have launched a murder inquiry and are vowing to ‘leave no stone unturned’ in the hunt for ‘further suspects’.
Today officers arrested two more people – a 20-year-old man and a 22-year-old man – in connection with the deaths. A 44-year-old man and a boy, 15, had already arrested and police are still hunting more suspects.
Tributes were left for the teenagers at a vigil in their memory last night, where a heartbroken local told how she held one of the victims in her lap as emergency services raced to the scene.
Parents and children were among some 150 people who gathered last night to pay their respects, with mourners lighting candles and laying flowers with messages remembering Max and Mason and expressing sympathy for their loved ones.
