At the end of the trial following the death of Axelle Dorier in July 2020, after being hit by a car and dragged 804 meters, the main suspects were convicted. In his defense, the driver insisted on the panic which would have triggered his escape, carrying the body of the young woman.
After four days of trial, Youcef Tebbal, driver of the Golf who hit then dragged the body of Axelle Dorier, 23, was sentenced this Friday, January 20 to twelve years of criminal imprisonment by the Court of Assizes of the Rhône, for intentional violence resulting in death without intention to give it and hit and run. His cousin Mohamed-Amine Yelloule, a passenger in the vehicle, received five years in prison, two of which are closed, for failing to assist a person in danger, reports AFP. During the hearing, Youcef Tebbal notably defended himself accusing certain witnesses of having caused his panic and his flight.
While the young woman was celebrating her birthday in Lyon with her twin brothers and her friends, in July 2020, the evening turned tragic when a first car ran over the dog of one of the guests. The vehicle was occupied by young women who had come to find Youcef Tebbal and Mohamed-Amine Yelloule, themselves in their own car. The situation became electrified, until Axelle intervened. She was then rammed and pinned under the car., then trailed for several hundred meters. Evan, one of her brothers, later found her body in a gutter following the blood trails on the road.
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“It hit right and left”
On Tuesday January 17, the day the trial opened, Youcef Tebbal sought to “[s’excuser] for everything that happened.” The 24-year-old has always denied wanting to hurt or kill the victim. “Axelle Dorier, I did not see her. It was an accident”, he insisted. January 19, he lost his temper and accused Axelle’s boyfriendClément Saussac, to be partly responsible for the tragedy: “The person responsible for the death of Axelle Dorier is Clément Saussac who jumped on the Golf, who made me start leaving (sic.)!”. He describes having panicked because “it was hitting right and left” and that about fifteen people surrounded his vehicle. The lawyer of the fifteen civil parties has, him, currying the behavior of the accusedwho has requested a release application seven times since 2020: “You made Axelle Dorier a puppet”, he denounced. Youcef Tebbal expressed his regrets again during the trial: “Axelle Dorier, I saw it as if it were my sister. I feel what the family feels and I’m ready to pay.”