Dead Stoke teenager named as 18-year-old Megan Newton
A teenager found dead in a flat in Staffordshire over the Bank Holiday weekend has been named as 18-year-old Megan Newton.
Her body was discovered at a property on Fletcher Road, Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday [April 20].
Joseph Trevor, 18, is due to appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre this morning [April 23] charged with murder.
A cordon and police presence remained at the scene over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Remembering Megan
Yesterday [April 22], fans at Stoke City's game against Norwich City held a minute's applause for Megan in the 18th minute.
Now her loved ones have described the Stoke City fan as 'outgoing', 'fun' and 'amazing'.
Best friend Ricardo Eccles had been planning to go shopping with Miss Newton the day after she was found dead.
Mr Eccles, 18, said: "When I got the phone call to say that it was Meg, I was so shocked. I refused to believe it at first.
"I've been a complete mess for a few days but I have to try to pull myself together for Meg.
"Her life has been cruelly cut short in its prime. She'd only just turned 18. She had her whole life ahead of her.
"We'd been planning to go to Manchester on Sunday. It's just heart-breaking."
The teenagers had met when they both lived at the Arch-owned flats in Fletcher Road and would still meet up every few days.
Mr Eccles added: "She was a really bubbly person and had a really outgoing personality.
"She was there for everyone who needed her. She would be there for her friends at the click of a finger. She was an amazing person.
"My biggest memory of her is her amazing smile. She had the kind of smile that meant you couldn't help smiling too.
"She was just a normal teenager. We'd sit and watch films together and go shopping. I remember her getting a Halloween costume and she looked absolutely stunning.
"She absolutely loved football, she was mad for Stoke City. It was a real passion. She was working training young children in football when she died.
"She had a really happy life and very much lived it to the full. She loved kids and wanted her own when she was older.
"We'd also go out clubbing in Hanley. We just did the stuff that normal teenagers do. We were living the teenage dream."
Mr Eccles added: "I am raising money to support her family financially with funeral care and also so that we can gather up enough for a memorial piece that truly represents our Meg."
A Facebook fundraising page has been launched to help towards the funeral costs and to eventually pay for a memorial to Miss Newton.
More than £2,300 has been pledged in the space of a couple of days.
Flowers have been left outside the flats as detectives continue to appeal for witnesses.
The investigation
Staffordshire Police were first called to the flats - at the former Victoria Hotel on the junction of Fletcher Road and Campbell Road - at 3.20pm on Saturday.
Formal identification of Miss Newton's body is expected to take place this morning [April 23].