A TEENAGER cried “I’m going to die” after he was stabbed in the chest while standing up to the men trying to steal his car, a court heard.

Fabian Kacica, from Southend, had just turned 19 when he died after a fight broke out near the Forum library, on May 14 this year.

Two men are on trial for his murder and are also accused of attempting to steal Fabian’s Ford Fiesta during the fatal incident.

Joe Paffey, 21, of Old Southend Road, Southend, is accused of delivering the fatal blow with a knife while Aidon Pearce, 21, of Treecot Drive, Leigh, is accused of being jointly responsible for Fabian’s murder.

Both defendants deny murder and attempted robbery.

They appeared in the dock at Basildon Crown Court yesterday in a trial expected to last four weeks.

Amjad Malik QC, prosecuting, told the jury Fabian had been socialising with friends before he was killed in an incident which lasted only minutes.

He said: “Joe Paffey was the man who stabbed Fabian Kacica.

“He stabbed him with a knife in his chest through his heart.

“It was a forceful and fatal stabbing which you will see because there’s a nearby CCTV camera that’s recorded this moment.”

Family members of Fabian left the court room while footage of the incident was shown to the jury of six men and six women.

Mr Malik continued: “The prosecution say Fabian was stabbed because he stood up to these defendants when he was confronted by them.”

The court heard Fabian and his best friend, whom he had known since primary school, were out socialising with two 15-year-old girls and had stopped at the Forum because one of the girls needed the toilet.

It is alleged while the two girls were walking to the toilet, a group of men, which it is claimed included the two defendants, began calling out to them but they were ignored.

Mr Malik told the jury when the girls came out of the Forum, they were called over by the group, one of whom they knew, so they went over and began a conversation but were there less than a minute.

The prosecution claim a witness will describe the defendants drinking vodka and described them as “loud, drunk and full-on”.

Mr Malik said the witness will tell the court how a man they believe was Aidon Pearce asked the girls their ages and the ages of the men in the car before the girls quickly returned to Fabian’s Fiesta allegedly followed by Pearce, Paffey and a third man.

It is alleged Pearce said “well, we’re robbing that car” before two men, believed to be Pearce and Paffey, could allegedly be heard talking about a knife which was required for the purpose of robbing Fabian of his car.

Mr Malik added: “One thing is for sure, Joe Paffey had a knife which he was to use within a minute and a half of that conversation to stab Fabian.

“It was clear to these girls these men were going to approach Fabian and his friend in the way they said.

“The girls quickly made their way back to the car.”

The court heard the two girls and Fabian’s friend got in the car while Fabian stood outside his car by the driver’s door.

Mr Malik said: “One young witness heard Pearce shouting at Fabian ‘why are you with two 15-year-old girls?’ and even heard him shouting something which he knew was untrue which was ‘why are you with my friend’s younger sister?’

“It was used by Pearce as a pretence to go over there and challenge them in that way.

“Pearce took the keys to ensure that Fabian and his friend couldn’t escape by driving the car away.

“Fabian immediately reacted and tried to stop Pearce continuing and punched Pearce in the face.

“It wasn’t very strong and Pearce remained standing.

“As this occurred, Paffey came round the car from the rear and is seen on CCTV coming up behind Fabian, who was facing Pearce, and the recording shows Paffey push Fabian from behind towards Pearce.

“One second later Paffey is seen to move around to get into position in front of Fabian and can be seen to lunge his arm towards his chest area. Paffey can then be seen to back away because it’s done.

“Fabian doubles over and falls to the floor.”

Mr Malik told the court Fabian’s friend got out of the car with the wheel brace but before he could intervene, Paffey had already stabbed Fabian.

The young witness who it is claimed had been sat on the benches prior to the incident said the friend ran over after he heard the girls screaming.

Mr Malik said: “He could see Fabian on the floor holding his chest and saying ‘I’m going to die’.”

The court heard Fabian’s friend had got out of the car to intervene but Fabian had been stabbed before he could act.

Ambulances and police arrived on the scene within minutes but sadly, medics were unable to save his life despite their best efforts.

The court heard a medical examiner confirmed the cause of death was a single stab wound to the chest.

The trial continues.