The father of eight-year-old Mylee Billingham posted a Facebook photo of his daughter just minutes before he allegedly stabbed her to death.
Police were called after neighbours reported screams coming from a bungalow in Brownhills, near Walsall.
One neighbour claimed Mylee’s distraught mother said: ‘My partner’s stabbed my little girl.’
A 54-year-old man, thought to be Mylee’s father, Bill Billingham, was found with stab injuries to the stomach.
West Midlands police confirmed a man has been arrested and is fighting for his life in hospital.
Billingham posted a photo of Mylee eating pizza in bed on Facebook at about 8.15pm on Saturday night. An hour later, the emergency services rushed to the quiet street.
Mylee was found critically wounded at the home and died later in hospital.
One of the people to like the Facebook photo, which had the caption, ‘Pitza on bed lv moo x’, was Mylee’s mother, Tracey Taundry, who is not thought to live at the bungalow.
Mylee’s father is the brother of Mark Billingham MBE, who appears as an instructor in Channel 4 programme, SAS: Who Dares Wins.
Mark was in the Special Air Service for 27 years is a former private bodyguard for A-list actors such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise.
Mark, who appears to have deleted his Twitter and Facebook accounts, said in a short statement: ‘Please respect my family’s privacy. There will be no further comment at this time.’
One neighbour said he comforted Mylee’s mother after the emergency services arrived at the scene.
Graham Greatrex, 74, who lives a few doors down from the bungalow, reportedly said the mother said a man had ‘stabbed my little girl’.
He said: “I just offered her a warm drink because it was a bitterly cold night.
“She just said, ‘My partner’s stabbed my little girl’.
“She was in shock and she couldn’t say anything else.”
The home was searched by forensics experts on Sunday. It is one of a row of terraced bungalows in the street.
Detective Inspector Jim Colclough, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘We are still at the early stages of understanding exactly what happened and why – but I can confirm we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this investigation.’
Mr Greatrex said a man had lived there for the past six months after the previous occupier, a woman, had died.
But he said he did not know the current occupant.
He added: ‘It was a bit of a shock. You can’t imagine it happening on our doorstep, especially when it’s a little girl.’
Other neighbours said they were also stunned at news that a child had died.
Bob Weir lives two doors away from the bungalow where the stabbing happened.
Mr Weir, 72, added that a middle-aged man apparently lived alone at the property that was sealed off by police.
‘There were police cars both sides of the road, ambulances… all sorts.
‘I didn’t know there were any kids in there. I thought he just lived on his own. I never saw a girl or a woman there.’
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I only knew the guy to say hello to and I think he was married and was living there on his own.
‘I didn’t hear anything before the police got here.
‘It’s really sad. This is not the sort of area where you hear of anybody being stabbed.’
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