The 24-year-old woman was killed by a Kalashnikov shot that went through the wall of her bedroom. A few months later, a 16-year-old suspect was charged with murder.
Alexis remembers it like it was yesterday. Exactly one year ago, on September 10, 2023, the man who lives in a building in the Saint-Thys housing project in the 10th arrondissement of Marseille was in the room of his neighbor, Socayna, a 24-year-old student, when a Kalashnikov bullet went through the wall and killed the young woman. The victim’s family has since moved.
“Not seeing the family every day, not talking to them, all that, it’s quite a strange event, but we cope with it,” the young man told BFM Marseille Provence.
Like him, the neighborhood’s residents were affected by this tragedy. “As soon as I hear a firecracker or something else, I no longer go to the window, whereas before I did,” confided Pierrette Cuetto, a resident of the estate.
“It could happen to us tomorrow”
Some are also thinking about changing neighborhoods, like this pastry chef: “I tell myself that if it happens to someone like that, it could happen to us tomorrow. I’m thinking about changing workshops,” shares Mokhataria Bouchedda.
She is not the only one to question the safety of the neighborhood. “I am outraged to see that things like this are happening, how come this young man was able to have a handgun, it means that you can kill at any time, anywhere,” regrets Nassira Bellaid, another resident.
A lack of understanding shared by the victim’s mother during her appearance on BFMTV on June 18. “Minors who find themselves with Kalashnikovs, who enter neighborhoods and shoot left, right. I don’t understand (…) Before, it was between them, we didn’t do anything,” Layla declared.
On February 12, a 16-year-old suspect suspected of being the author of the shooting was arrested and charged with murder. The public prosecutor then referred to a “case of narchomicide” explaining that the suspect and his relatives were “very largely involved in drug trafficking.”
Julie Rampal with Emilie Roussey
