Stabbed schoolgirl was sent chilling texts in the weeks before her death
Women pay their condolences to Arsema Dawit's family in South London
A murdered girl was sent threatening text messages in the weeks before her death, family friends claim.
Arsema Dawit, 15, allegedly received one chilling message warning: 'If I can't have you any more no one can have you.'
Within five minutes of her murder, a sinister message was also alleged to have been sent to a male friend of the former choirgirl, saying: 'You have taken my love, the love of my heart, I hope you are happy now that she is dead.'
It also emerged that Arsema claimed she had been harassed by a man for months with relatives accusing police of inventing claims that she had refused to cooperate with an investigation.
Friends claim that her frenzied attacker mistakenly believed she had spurned him for another man.
Her family told police she had complained she was the target of an obsessed stalker who had hit her and threatened to kill her.
They claimed officers said they were powerless to help and have accused the Met of failing to protect the teenager. The independent police watchdog has begun an investigation into their complaints.
Arsema's body was found slumped in a lift in the block of flats where she lived with her family near London's Waterloo station at 3.45pm on Monday.
She was stabbed up to ten times in a frenzied attack, five weeks after her mother contacted police about her fears for her daughter.
Farah Carver, a family friend, said relatives had told officers about text messages sent to the teenager, allegedly from a man she had met at an Eritrean church in Camberwell, South London.
Miss Carver, 43, a catering manager, said that after the murder a message had been sent to a friend of Arsema, saying 'now they should be happy'.
Another family friend, Simon Tesfaghiorgish, said Arsema was so terrified by the campaign of harassment that her relatives had begun to escort her almost everywhere.
Arsema's mother Tsehay Medhani breaks down while visiting the scene
Police have confirmed the family reported the incident but said Arsema later denied it had happened. Sources said they were not aware of a wider campaign of harassment against the schoolgirl.
Yesterday her mother, Tsehay Medhani, broke down as she glimpsed the spot where Arsema's body was found.
Mrs Dawit cried out in pain as she was taken past the sealed-off lift on her way to say a final farewell to her daughter. Speaking in her native Eritrean, she called out: 'How could they do this? Is it here they killed my daughter?'
She was supported by her younger daughter Feruz, 11.
Relatives refused to comment on claims Arsema might have been as old as 19, but had lied about her age to enter the school system when her family arrived in London four years ago.
The family arrived in Britain four years ago from war-torn Eritrea, and successfully applied for asylum. London has a large Eritrean community and a stream of mourners has visited the family's flat, including many women wearing traditional white headscarves.
Religious leaders at the church Arsema attended, St Michael's in Camberwell, said they planned a memorial service on Sunday.
Father Yohanees Sibhatu said: 'The whole thing has been very shocking and upsetting for the Eritrean community.
'If it turns out this was between the Eritreans it makes it worse for the community. It's very, very sad. This sort of thing is very rare among Eritreans.'
Arsema was the 16th teenager to be killed in the capital this year and the first female victim.
Thomas Nugusse, a 21-year-old student from Ilford in Essex, has been charged with her murder. He will appear at Greenwich Magistrates' Court today.
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