Heartbroken families pay tribute to teenage girl and young man killed in Oldbury crash
Police have named the 16-year-old girl and 19-year-old man who were killed when they were hit by a car in Oldbury.
Liberty Charris, aged 16, and 19-year-old Ben Corfield, both from Dudley, were pronounced dead at the scene on the A457 Birmingham Road and Oldbury Road at around 11.30pm on Sunday after a blue Nissan Skyline hit a group of pedestrians near the junction with Crystal Drive.
As roadside tributes were left at the scene of the crash, police issued tributes on behalf of the families of Liberty and Ben.
Liberty's family said: "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."
And Ben'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!"
Specialist liaison officers from West Midlands Police are offering support to both families.
A man and woman in their 20s were also suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash and received advanced trauma care from ambulance staff at the scene and en-route to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Police have said they are both in a stable condition.
A 54-year-old man 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 ongoing enquiries.
Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from our 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."
Anyone with information is asked to email FL_COLLISION_INVEST@westmidlands.police.uk, message Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight, or call 101. Quote log number 3732 of 20 November.
