In the lead-up to his death teenager Aidan Smith was with a group of friends when he heard someone wanted a fight at an 18th birthday party at Ryde in Sydney's north-west.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Knowing there was a challenge, the group 16-year-old Aidan was with travelled to a red-brick halfway house on Victoria Road about midnight on Sunday, police told Fairfax Media.
Soon after the group arrived, a brawl erupted where about half a dozen knives and weapons were used.
The bloody fight left six males and a female with stab wounds.
Aidan was one of the people stabbed and he later died at Westmead Hospital in the early hours of the morning.
Police are particularly keen to speak to one of the males involved in the brawl, who was also injured during the fight.
Hours after Mick Smith heard his son had passed away, he took to Facebook to confirm every parent's worst nightmare.
"Sadly the boy critically injured is my son ... He passed this morning ... RIP Aidan," he posted on Facebook.
Following the brawl another 16-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were taken to hospital.
The 16-year-old was discharged and the 20-year-old was in a serious, but stable condition on Sunday.
Three boys, two aged 16 and one aged 17, and a woman aged 18 were all taken with lacerations to Royal North Shore Hospital but were later discharged.
Ryde Local Area Command Superintendent John Duncan said police were met with a "confronting" scene at the house in the quiet neighbourhood.
"At this stage of our inquiries we are trying to establish why the party turned violent," Superintendent Duncan said.
It is understood 50 people attended the 18th birthday party and no gatecrashers were involved. He said there was no evidence of gang involvement.
A number of people were handcuffed and questioned by police at the party but no arrests had been made on Sunday evening.
Aidan's older sister posted a tribute to her brother on Facebook on Sunday morning: "Just wanted to say that I love you with all my heart Aidan and I'm so sorry this had to happen to you.
"I couldn't have asked for a better brother, through everything we went through you were always there for me and I'll always be your number 1 supporter.
"R.I.P my baby brother still cannot believe this has happened," she posted.
Shocked neighbour Graham Kilby said the death and multiple stabbings were completely at odds with the area.
Mr Kilby, who lives beside the scene, said a young man had visited him on Friday, "politely" informing him of a party the next evening.
The first he saw of any trouble were flashing lights outside his home between 12.30 and 1am.
"It wasn't rowdy, they were fine. There was music but nothing out of the ordinary. That's why it's so surprising.
"The funny thing is, they were that polite," he said of "upset" partygoers after the incident.
"Girls from the party were asking for water – it's like chalk and cheese. It's so much of a shock to find out a young fella has been killed.
He said the scene of the multiple stabbing was a council-owned "halfway house" and that its residents stayed for about a month at a time.
Late on Sunday morning, a pair of pants lay on the front lawn alongside a forensic sign, while forensics officers were seen gathering evidence from the back garden and the area surrounding the house.
Police scoured the blood-stained pavement of the busy six-lane thoroughfare.
A nearby bus stop has also been cordoned off after police found what is believed to be a discarded bloodied piece of clothing on the pavement.
Shocked and grieving friends of Aidan Smith – known affectionately as "Smithy" – posted of their loss on Facebook: "Rest in peace Aidan. Didn't deserve any of this, fly high up there."
"[Y]ou were truly such a positive light everywhere you went, you didn't deserve this."