A man is to appear in a British court charged with the murder of Perseverance Ncube (35) stabbed to death in front of her two young children in Salford in the early hours of Friday.
Obert Moyo (45) of Pennington Road, Bolton has also been charged with possession of an offensive weapon. He has been remanded in custody to appear at Bolton magistrates’ court on Monday.
Ncube — known as ‘Percy’ to friends, family and neighbours — died after suffering a single stab wound to the chest on Dukesgate Grove in Little Hulton at 2.40am. Her children are believed to have rushed to her as she lay dying in the street.
Moyo, an asylum seeker, had been released from prison after serving a lengthy sentence for a section 18 wounding, the M.E.N. has learned. He was electronically tagged.
Greater Manchester Police made a domestic homicide review referral in relation to the case. Moyo is believed to be an ex-partner, but the precise nature of his relationship with Ncube is still being established.
The tragedy unfolded on Dukesgate Grove in the early hours of Friday. Witnesses reported seeing police arrive just before 3am.
The M.E.N. understands the attack began inside Ncube’s home, before it continued outside, where she was fatally wounded. Police said Ncube was ‘found by her two young children with a single stab injury to the chest’, before she was taken to hospital. She then sadly died.
Neighbours spoke of their shock following Ncube’s death. Frantic efforts were made to save her as she lay wounded. Some claimed Moyo had been seen on the street ‘hiding in bushes’.
“We’ve seen the guy,” one person said. “He used to hide behind bushes and sit on window sills.”
A woman said: “We heard the screaming over the road. We got up and went out and she was lying on the floor. A lad from down the road did compressions on her.
“Someone said ‘he’s gone down there’, so my son got his trainers on and chased him (the suspect). He and a mate never caught up with him. He’s been around here loads… hiding in bushes, walking, going to the garage buying beer and sitting on a window sill.
“I am just so sorry for those kids. Just before Christmas as well. It’s an awful thing to happen on the street you live on. She was lovely. She kept herself to herself and never had any bother with anyone.”
Another neighbour added: “He’s been on this estate doing laps. He was walking about, hiding behind cars and bushes. He used to sit and hide.”
One neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said she was woken at around 2.30am by ‘screaming’ in the street and went outside to help. The woman, who lives a couple of doors down from the victim, said she went outside and found a woman with what she said was a ‘stab wound’ to her chest.
She said: “I was there, I was on the phone to the ambulance. We were all there looking after her. There was four of us and a lad was giving her compressions on her chest.”
Ncube’s family said she was a “loving and devoted mother”.
In a statement, her family said:
“It is with immense pain that we say goodbye to Perseverance Ncube, also known as Percy to her loved ones.
“She was a loving and devoted mother who lived for her children, family, and friends. Percy was an active member of her church and had created a beautiful community for herself and her children, but she was cruelly taken from us due to domestic violence.
“Percy had just celebrated her 35th birthday in October, and her passing has left us with an immeasurable sense of loss. Our focus now is on supporting her children as they continue their journey without their mother.
“With love from Percy’s family.” — Manchester Evening News.