The driver who fatally struck a woman in the parking lot of a restaurant in Béziers (Hérault) on the night of Saturday to Sunday was indicted for murder and placed in pre-trial detention on Monday.
The qualification of assassination, which supposes premeditation, was retained because “of the threatening remarks which would have made the presumed driver before going to recover his vehicle and to come back on the spot at high speed”, specified the public prosecutor. Republic of Béziers, Raphaël Balland.
Already convicted and repeat offender
The alleged driver of the vehicle at the time of the facts, a 46-year-old man, was indicted for murder, hit-and-run and drunk driving in legal recidivism. His criminal record bears the mention of 13 convictions, the most recent for recidivism of alcoholic driving in March 2019. He was also convicted of acts of violence, more than 20 years ago.
His alleged passenger, a 29-year-old man, was indicted for complicity in a hit-and-run. When the police arrested them, 200 m from the scene of the tragedy, he was driving the vehicle trying to get it out of the ditch into which they had fallen. Placed under judicial control, this man has already been convicted four times for traffic offenses, including three for driving under the influence of alcohol.
A fight at the origin of the drama
The two men, both domiciled in the Hérault, had overthrown a forty-something in the night from Saturday to Sunday, around 1:50 am, by storming out of the parking lot of a restaurant in Béziers. According to the first elements of the investigation, a fight would have previously opposed them to another group of customers of the establishment.
The victim, a 48-year-old woman who came from Bouches-du-Rhône to celebrate a friend’s birthday, “did not know the two men involved and does not seem to have had any particular contact with them during the evening. “, According to Mr. Balland on Monday. She would have been 49 on Monday.
No recollection of the events
In front of the police officers of Béziers, the driver of the vehicle and his passenger affirmed to have no memory of the events, “because of their massive alcoholism”, specified the press release of the prosecution. They had drunk a first bottle of vodka in Montpellier, before drinking two more in the restaurant in Béziers.
The alleged driver, who would have admitted to having done “a big mistake”, had also smoked two joints of cannabis during this evening, underlined Mr. Balland, specifying that the maximum penalty incurred for murder is criminal imprisonment for life.