Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 17-year-old youth was stabbed to death at a house party in an affluent area of Colchester, attended by around 100 teenagers. Essex police said Jay Whiston, of Clacton, was stabbed during a disturbance outside the house at around 10pm on Saturday. He died after being taken to Colchester general hospital with abdominal injuries.
Detectives said everyone at the party was a key witness. Reports have suggested it had been gatecrashed after being advertised on Facebook.
Police said a provisional postmortem result showed that Whiston died from a stab wound.
A 17-year-old boy and two men, both aged 18, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. They are all from Colchester and are being questioned at separate police stations in Essex. Senior investigating officer, DCI Simon Parkes, said: "This really is tragic loss of life that we, but more importantly, this boy's parents have to deal with.
"This murder took place in an affluent area of Colchester and at a house party which had a garden that could cater for the 100 or so teenagers that were present.
"Although we don't yet know the details of what went on, we're slowly piecing together the sequence of events that led to this boy's death. We're speaking to those who were at the party, but we're mindful that there may have been others who left either before the stabbing or in the immediate aftermath before we arrived.
"Everyone at this party is a key witness whether they saw anything or not and we would urge them to contact us. Our thoughts are very much also with this boy's family. They are being supported by our family liaison officers."