Family and colleagues of a heavily pregnant postal worker who was stabbed to death at the weekend have paid heartfelt tributes to a “beautiful person”.
Kelly Mary Fauvrelle, who was eight months pregnant, was killed at her home in Thornton Heath, south London, in the early hours of Saturday. Her tiny infant son remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Her brother, Stephan Alexander Simpson, wrote on Facebook: “Words can’t describe the pain we’re feeling. You couldn’t have been a better sister, and I thank you for always being there for me, helping whenever I needed it.
“A beautiful person who’s life has been taken from her. I’ll stay strong, you’ll always be in my thoughts, so please keep watching over us. I love you more than you can possibly imagine. Rest in peace Kelly.”
Colleagues of the victim are in “total shock”, a union leader has said. Kelly worked at the Croydon delivery office.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, paid tribute to the 26-year-old in a statement published on Twitter.
Ward said: “Kelly leaves behind a baby fighting for their life, a family devastated by the loss and colleagues who are in total shock.
“The union will do everything possible to help Kelly’s family and our members during this period.”
Paramedics managed to deliver her baby son and family members remain at his bedside in hospital as medical teams battle to save him.
Ward called on the government and London Mayor Sadiq Khan to reverse police cuts in the wake of the death.
He said: “Yet another loss of innocent life is utterly sickening. It is clear the gang culture and environment across the UK but particularly in London has reached a level where it just cannot go on.
“The CWU calls for an immediate reversal of police cuts in London and across the UK as an absolute priority and we will link up with other organisations to pressure the government and Mayor to act now.
“The streets are not safe any more and this is not the world we should hand over to our children and grandchildren. Enough is enough.”
Speaking to The Telegraph on Sunday, Kelly’s uncle, Bruneau Fauvrelle, said her murder would “not be the last”.
“This is London for you. It won’t get any better. You could put more police on the streets, or the Army, but this is the world we live in nowadays,” he said.
“People have no respect for life any more. It’s only going to get worse.”
His wife, Rosa Fauvrelle, also told the newspaper that family members are struggling to get answers from the police about what happened at the property.
“Nobody is communicating with each other,” she said. “So everybody at the moment is very hysterical. Very tired. I personally don’t know who has been arrested but the family are meeting up today and talking and the police might have names. At the moment they say they can’t hand out information.
“People want answers and we’re just not getting anywhere.”
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of the 26-year-old’s murder. One, aged 37, was released under investigation on Sunday, and a second, aged 29, has been released on bail until early August.
Police say they are keeping an open mind as to the motive over Fauvrelle’s death.