Brownhills stabbing: Victim named as Mylee Billingham Published duration 21 January 2018

image copyright Family handout image caption Mylee Billingham died in hospital shortly after being found seriously injured

An eight-year-old girl who was stabbed to death has been named as Mylee Billingham.

West Midlands Police said she died in hospital shortly after being found seriously injured in Valley View in Brownhills, near Walsall, at 21:15 GMT on Saturday.

A post mortem examination is scheduled to take place on Monday.

A 54-year-old man has been arrested and is in a critical condition in hospital with a stab wound to the stomach.

image caption A police cordon was put in place around the property

West Midlands Police said they were treating the stabbing as a "domestic incident" and would be questioning the man in due course.

Det Insp Jim Colclough said no-one else was being sought in connection with the death and that investigations were continuing.

"This is an absolutely tragic set of circumstances and my thoughts are with everyone who has been affected," he added.

image copyright PA image caption Forensic officers have been at the scene

On Sunday, a bungalow in Valley View was being searched by forensic officers behind a police cordon.

Neighbour Graham Greatrex, 74, told how he helped comfort the girl's mother after the incident.

He said: "She was in shock. I just offered her a warm drink because it was a bitterly cold night."

Mr Greatrex added: "You can't imagine it happening on our doorstep, especially when it's a little girl."

Bob Weir, 72, who lives two doors away, said: "I didn't know the bloke who lived there and he hadn't lived there long, maybe six months, if that.

"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."

Councillor Kenneth Ferguson, ward member for Brownhills on Walsall Council, said: "It is devastating, you don't expect things like this to happen on your doorstep.

"For something like this to happen to an eight-year-old child is unbelievable. I am lost for words."