Dee Willis

A young woman who was stabbed to death by a female attacker had recently lost twins in a miscarriage, it was revealed today.

Dee Willis, 28, was stabbed in the neck by another woman in south-east London late last night.

She was taken to hospital but died shortly after midnight.

Detectives are today searching for a woman attacker in connection with the stabbing, who they believe acted alone.
Dee

A bloody rag lies on the ground near to where Dee Willis was fatally stabbed

Local residents today claimed that the area where the attack took place, Peckham High Street, was well known for violent and drunken behaviour.

A gang of up to 20 girls was seen in the area around the time of the attack, according to one eyewitness.

Neighbours revealed today that Ms Willis had recently been pregnant but miscarried, resulting in the loss of twins.

One resident said: 'She lost twins about a month ago. I think she was around seven months gone.'

Police said next of kin have been informed but they are awaiting formal identification of the victim.

Police cordon off the scene of a fatal stabbing on Bellenden Road, Peckham, south London.

'It occurred near to Burger King and it looks at the moment like it could have been a woman-on-woman attack but there have been no arrests and we do not yet have any descriptions.

'We await formal identification and a postmortem will follow shortly.'

The controller of a nearby taxi firm said a group of 10 to 20 girls were seen at the scene of the crime shortly before or at the time of the incident.

The man, who did not wish to be named, added that it was a well-known trouble spot.

He said: 'It is happening around here almost every night. At around 7 to 8 o'clock, people arrive and start drinking in the streets.

'They lose their brains and it turns violent.'

New horror: Flowers on the pavement at the scene where Dee Willis was killed

A bar worker was walking past the scene of the crime shortly after 11pm and said she saw police talking to a man and a woman who both appeared to be distressed.

The incident took place close to where schoolboy Damilola Taylor was killed eight years ago.

The latest attack comes just a day after hundreds of teenagers took part in an anti-knife crime march in the wake of Ben Kinsella's murder.

Five hundred youngsters, dressed in white for peace, walked the two miles from Islington town hall in North London to the scene of the murder chanting 'stop the knives'.

Ben was the 17th teenager to be killed in London this year.

The latest murder also comes as more than 1,200 people have been arrested during an unprecedented crackdown on knife crime in London.

A total of 528 knives were recovered as a result of 26,777 searches during Operation Blunt 2.

The blitz was launched by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair in response to a wave of killings, particularly among teenagers, in the capital.

Sir Ian said the stabbing of Ben in Islington at the weekend showed 'the problem of knife crime is still with us'.

He said: 'I know the communities of London understand that this is something they and the police have to solve together.

'I promise that the Met is in this for the long haul and we will do everything in its power to stop these murders continuing.'

Mr Johnson said Operation Blunt is only one area in which the authorities are working to make London safer.

He said: 'Everybody is shocked by the level of violence we are seeing, particularly towards young people in London, and we must all work as hard as we can together to reverse this dreadful trend.'