THE partner of a dad chased down with a machete and knifed to death wept as she said: “I never got to say goodbye.”
Kelvin Ward, 50, was killed after a gang of masked men tried to attack his 19-year-old son in Kingshurst, West Mids.
He chased the thugs down but they turned on him and he was stabbed with a massive machete – before being left to die on the road as the men fled.
Four thugs have now been locked up over the horror, and Kelvin’s partner Tammy has told of her heartbreak.
The grieving woman says she had to watch the “love of her life” take his final breaths on the CCTV.
Tammy has now paid tribute to her “wonderful man”, while calling for change.
She wrote on change.org: “If you were fortunate to know Kelvin, he was a wonderful man.
“He was a loving partner, father, son, brother and a good friend to many. We didn’t get to say goodbye instead we had to watch videos of his last moments which was horrific.
“To see the man I love stabbed by savage people then left to die on a road is disgraceful. It’s inhumane.”
Tammy said Kelvin was the sort of man who “always put himself out for other people and if anyone needed a job doing or shoulder to cry on”.
She continued: “He was very unique and there was never a dull moment when he was around.
“He was funny, the life and soul of a party, he worked hard to provide for his family, he had so much more to live for and loved life.”
The horror attack unfolded on April 18 last year and the thugs were jailed this week.
Footage showed Kelvin walking out to his son’s car with a bag of KFC, on Chester Road in Castle Bromwich.
Seconds later their car was rammed by a stolen car being driven by Tyrone Hollywood, with Leighton Williams, Rusharn Williams-Reid, and Aaron Coates inside.
The son quickly drove off but the car kept ploughing into them, and they were forced to stop after the airbags went off.
Kelvin’s son took off on foot and the group could be heard yelling: “Get him now, keep chasing. Kill him, everyone kill him.”
Hollywood, along with Williams and Williams-Reid chased the teen, but he managed to escape with the help of a man on an e-bike.
Kelvin then leapt into the thugs’ car and sped off in the direction his son took off.
“Kelvin was the love of my life. He was a fantastic partner, father, son, brother and good friend to many. He always put himself out for other people and if anyone needed a job doing or shoulder to cry on, he’d be there.
“He was very unique and there was never a dull moment when he was around. He was funny, the life and soul of a party, he worked hard to provide for his family, he had so much more to live for and loved life.
“We didn’t even get to say goodbye instead we got to watch videos of his last moments which was horrific.
“To see the man I love stabbed by savage people then left to die like ‘road kill’ dumped on a road is disgraceful and no one should have to go through that.
“The measure of how good a man is, is by how many people turned up at his funeral. There was estimated to be 500 people and Kelvin had a special connection with each one who attended.
“The church was so full that people stood outside.
“Knife crime is a huge problem in the UK. We hear about it every day. The levels of violence are increasing and this is why we need longer sentences on those caught with knives or machetes.
“It’s our news today and could be yours tomorrow. We need to send a message to the young people that life is not a computer game, but it appears that this is exactly what the younger generation are treating life as. It appears that they believe they have the authority to decide on someone’s fate?”
CCTV snapped him zooming towards Hollywood, but he narrowly missed and smashed into the railing.
Hollywood was then handed a machete or zombie knife by Coates and he and Williams then rushed Kelvin.
They knifed the dad in the middle of the road and ran off, leaving him to die.
His partner is now calling for change – hoping to fight knife crime.
She said: “Knife crime is a huge problem in the UK. We hear about it every day. The levels of violence are increasing and this is why we need longer sentences on those caught with knives or machetes.
“It’s our news today and could be yours tomorrow. We need to send a message to the young people that life is not a computer game, but it appears that this is exactly what the younger generation are treating life as.
“It appears that they believe they have the authority to decide on someone’s fate?”
He was funny, the life and soul of a party, he worked hard to provide for his family, he had so much more to live for and loved life.
Tammy
She’s also calling for balaclavas – and said people wearing them should be stopped by cops.
Tammy continued: “I’m aware there’s already stop and search in place if the police believe an individual is in possession of contraband.
“However, one of the reasons should be because you are wearing a mask. If implemented onto the current legislation, it will strengthen the response towards knife crime as they appear to go hand in hand.”
Williams, 28, and Hollywood, 17, were found guilty of Kelvin’s murder.
Williams, from Shard End, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years. Hollywood, from Ward End, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.
Coates, 18, from Shard End, who gave a machete and zombie knife to Hollywood before the fatal attack, was found guilty of manslaughter.
He was jailed for 21 years and will serve two-thirds in custody before being eligible for release.
Fourth man Rusharn Williams-Reid, 18, from Castle Vale, was cleared of homicide offences in relation to Kelvin, yet was convicted of conspiracy to murder his son.
He was jailed for 13 years and six months detention and will also serve two-thirds in custody before being eligible for release.
