The family of a mother who was shot in her home 20 years ago have pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.
Lucy Hargreaves, 22, was asleep on the sofa when three men burst into her home in Walton, Liverpool, on August 3, 2005, fatally injuring her.
The killers then set fire to the home on Lambourne Road, where her partner and two-year-old daughter were upstairs, and they had to escape through a window.
Two decades on, her family released a previously unshared photograph of the mother-of-three, taken at college.
They said: ‘Over the past 20 years, people have talked with family and friends. A number of people were contacted by males using a phone that was stolen, along with a vehicle used in Lucy’s murder.
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‘The people who received those calls, along with others, could have information which could be crucial in achieving justice for Lucy, her parents, sister, children and all her extended family and friends. We appeal directly to them to please come forward. Now is the time.’
Police arrested 21 people as part of their investigations, but no one has been convicted.
A comprehensive review into her murder was launched by Merseyside Police two years ago and remains ongoing.
Howard Rubbery, head of the serious case review unit, said: ‘It is now 20 years since Lucy was taken from her family in the most brutal of circumstances.
‘After carrying out the killing, the offenders ignored the cries of a toddler upstairs as they poured petrol around the house and set fire to it. Their callous and reckless actions could have claimed the lives of two more people that night, had they not escaped the flames by jumping from a window upstairs.
‘As with any unsolved murder, time is no barrier to our pursuit of justice for Lucy and we appeal to anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, to contact us.’
Ms Hargreaves’ family, who said they ‘miss her every single day’, welcomed a focus on tackling violence against women and girls in recent years.
They praised the families of other victims of gun crime, including the mothers of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt Korbel and Ashley Dale, 28, who were shot in their homes in separate incidents in Liverpool in August 2022.
The family said: ‘We greatly admire the determination and guts of the families of those who have more recently been killed as a result of gun crime here in Merseyside.
‘The mums of both Ashley Dale and Olivia Pratt Korbel have led a real and powerful community challenge to men of violence.’
Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about a gold Lexus car, believed to have been dumped shortly after the shooting on Richard Kelly Drive, Clubmoor, by several men who then ran in the direction of Normandale Road.
Police previously said they wanted to speak to Kevin Thomas Parle in connection with Ms Hargreaves’ murder.
Parle, who was believed to be living abroad, was also wanted in connection with the murder of Liam Kelly, 16, who was shot in the early hours of June 19 2004, in Dingle, Liverpool.
Anyone with information should contact Merseyside Police.
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