• Eystna Blunnie, from Harlow in Essex, was discovered next to a busy road with severe head injuries
  • Police have arrested her former boyfriend and father of her unborn child Tony McLernon
  • Distraught parents Kevin and Susan Blunnie pay tribute to their 'wonderful and loving daughter'

By Ryan Kisiel and William Jaffray

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The mother of an unborn baby girl beaten to death days before she was due to give birth had recently shared an ultrasound picture and spoken of her excitement on Facebook it has emerged.

Eystna Blunnie, 20, from Harlow, Essex, was found with severe head and facial injuries on a busy road less than a quarter of a mile from her family home.

The catering student was rushed to hospital at 3am on Wednesday but doctors were unable to save her or her unborn girl, who she was due to give birth to tomorrow.

She had proudly posted the ultrasound photo on her Facebook profile recently and had spoken of her excitement about becoming a mother.

Brutal: The body of pregnant Eystna Blunnie, pictured, was found dying on the side of a road in Harlow

Police have launched a murder inquiry and arrested her former boyfriend and father to her unborn child Tony McLernon, 23.

Miss Blunnie’s friends yesterday said they were going to call the child Mia Rose, but the pair had been in a ‘rocky and volatile relationship’ and had recently split up.

Detectives said they were treating the inquiry as a ‘domestic-related murder’ as forensic officers searched McLernon’s terraced home.

A series of conversations on Facebook between Miss Blunnie and a friend reveal Mr McLernon had a new girlfriend. The pair talked about how she would probably not know that he was the father of Miss Blunnie’s unborn child.

Miss Blunnie posted on Facebook last weekend (sic): ‘Jesus how many birds does he want and he said he loved... I aint hiding his dirty lil secrets anymore!’ (sic)

Suspicion: Police guard the house of a man who has been arrested in connection with Eystna's murder

Suspicion: Police guard the house of Miss Blunnie's former boyfriend who has been arrested in connection with Eystna's murder

McLernon, who is believed to be unemployed, also recently wrote on his Facebook page: ‘I’ve got nothing left to lose but my sanity and the right to go insane.’

Ms Blunnie told friends three weeks ago that she ‘could not wait’ to be a mother and added: ‘Only 17 days and counting.’

Yesterday Miss Blunnie’s parents Kevin and Susan described her attack, near to Howard Way, Harlow, in the early hours of Wednesday morning as ‘horrific’.

They said: ‘We hope that you will understand that we have suffered a tragic loss to our family. Our daughter and granddaughter have been taken from us in such a tragic and horrific way.

‘We can’t begin to explain how we feel. Eystna was a wonderful and loving daughter who was looking forward to the birth of her first child. Sadly this will no longer be.

‘We hope that everyone will understand the sadness in our hearts and let us mourn our sadness of the passing of our loved ones.’

Friends yesterday paid tribute to Miss Blunnie leaving flowers on a park bench near the patch of grass where Miss Blunnie was found.

One friend, Chloe Hickman, 20, wrote: ‘It’s a terrible and wicked thing to happen to such a lovely, bubbly girl.

‘Eystna was such a popular and positive person and was due to be induced at the weekend. She was really looking forward to becoming a mum.’

Family friend Sally Bugg, 57, said: ‘She was bundle of joy and was so looking forward to being a mum.

Distraught: People lay flowers on the side of a main road Howard Way, Harlow near to where Eystna Blunnie and her unborn baby were brutally beaten to death

Distraught: People lay flowers on the side of a main road Howard Way, Harlow near to where Eystna Blunnie and her unborn baby were brutally beaten to death

Grief: Two friends console each other beside tributes to college student Eystna Blunnie who was found fatally wounded in the street having been savagely beaten

Grief: Two friends console each other beside tributes to the college student who was due to give birth tomorrow

‘We saw her during the Jubilee and she was cuddling her baby bump and smiling from ear to ear. It’s absolutely heart-breaking what has happened.’

One of Eystna’s close friends Charlotte Bird wrote on Facebook: ‘Hates that I’m gonna go bed tonight and not sleep a wink but all I will be thinking bout are my 2 Beautiful darling Angels tonight who are at peace and now out of trouble sleep tight princesses.’

When Eystna was five months pregnant she told friends online she was hoping to give birth to a boy, but the brave expectant mother was preparing for life as a single mother.

Tragic: Friends of Eystna Blunnie, who was found dying on the side of a road in Harlow, lay floral tributes to the pregnant college student and her unborn child

Tragic: More friends of Eystna Blunnie, lay floral tributes at the scene. They have also written messages of condolence on Facebook

Describing herself on her profile page Eystna said: ‘I’m 20yrs old 21yrs old this year and going to be a mummy soon can’t wait.

‘So if you have any problems with me or my ex then im not interested as im an adult unlike some of you.’

An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘Estyna was heavily pregnant at the time of her death. She was due to give birth to a baby girl in the next few days.

‘As a result, the man is also being questioned in relation to the death of Estyna’s unborn daughter.’

Shocking: Flowers have been laid in tribute to a heavily pregnant woman, named locally as Eystna Blunnie, and her baby, near the scene where she was found brutally murdered in Harlow, Essex

Shocking: A mourner reads some of the touching messages left at the spot where Miss Blunnie was found


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