The trial of a teenager, 14 years old at the time of the events, for the murder in June 2021 of a schoolboy of the same age, stabbed after a dispute, opened on Wednesday in Reims behind closed doors. In white T-shirts and the name of the victim pinned on their jackets, his parents, relatives and members of the association they founded, had gathered in front of the juvenile court. The parents regretted that the trial was not public. “It is important to know what happened and that people become aware of the heinous crime” committed, they told reporters.
Died two months later
The first day must be devoted to examining the personality of the accused, a fourth-grade student at the time of the events. He appears detained, imprisoned after his indictment for aggravated murder of a minor under the age of 15. His pre-trial detention as well as “the seriousness of the facts, the circumstances, the excitement aroused (…) the personality of the protagonists”, explain, according to the public prosecutor Matthieu Bourrette, the rapid holding of the trial.
Opposed by a dispute for several days, the two college students, educated in the private establishment Saint-Joseph, had found themselves in the center of Reims at the end of classes on June 2, 2021. The respondent, who was holding a knife already unfolded, had pounced on his comrade, punching him and stabbing him in the temple. The victim, adopted as a child at the age of three, died on August 21 at Reims hospital without regaining consciousness.
Bullying since elementary school
The scene had been filmed by the camera of a nearby store, but also by a schoolgirl who came to watch the confrontation with a small group of students. A rap clip created and posted on Instagram by the accused seems to be at the origin of the tension between the two young people. We see the future aggressor put himself in the spotlight by playing with his knife, which would have provoked mockery among the college students.
The accused, who had previously been removed from a public establishment following a fight, would have experienced several situations of harassment since primary school. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment, the law providing, for minors, an excuse of minority. A psychological cell was set up during the trial in a special room at the courthouse.