Family hail 'amazing' pensioner found dead with suspected stab wounds

A pensioner who was found dead with suspected stab wounds at her home in the West Midlands has been described by her family as "amazing, generous and kind".

The body of Anne James, 74, was discovered by a neighbour at the address in the Highgate area of Walsall on Wednesday.

Officers have launched a murder investigation after they were alerted by the ambulance service at 6.15pm.

Mrs James was pronounced dead at the property in Doveridge Place when emergency services arrived.

A post-mortem examination will take place to establish the exact cause of death.

A statement from Mrs James' family reads: "We are all devastated at the loss of a loving wife, mum, grandma and great grandma.

"She was an amazing, generous, kind and much-loved part of our family; she will be very sadly missed."

Detective Superintendent Tom Chisholm said: "This appears to be a shocking, violent attack on an elderly lady in her home.

"Mrs James has been described as a kind and loving lady... her family are devastated and can't understand how anyone could do her any harm.

"We have conducted house-to-house inquiries and are in the process of seizing local CCTV footage that will hopefully help us build up a picture of what happened yesterday around her home address."

Mr Chisholm said the force suspected Mrs James was attacked at some stage between late morning and 5pm on Wednesday.