LONDON -- Three teenagers were accused of murdering a man - despite the alleged victim still being alive.
Rashid Naeem, 29, was stabbed at a market in the U.K. capital on Sunday afternoon, according to London's Metropolitan Police.
Doctors were certain Naeem's injuries would prove fatal, and the trio - males aged 16, 14, and 14 - were charged while their alleged victim was still alive on Tuesday morning.
"The victim remains at an east London hospital, however his injuries will prove fatal and consequently the three youths have been accused of murder," police said in a statement.
Police later issued another statement to confirm that Naeem had been pronounced dead.
The defendants, who were not identified, were due to appear at a juvenile court later Tuesday in connection with the alleged murder.
According to a report by news website London24, police were called at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (9:30 a.m. ET) to reports of a stabbing at the market where Naeem was a stallholder selling cellphones.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman told NBC News it was not the first time murder charges have been laid before a victim had succumbed to their injuries but the case was a rarity.