Socayna was killed on September 10, 2023 by a stray bullet that went through the wall of her bedroom in the Saint-Thys district of Marseille. A 16-year-old minor has been charged with murder.
A year after the death of her eldest daughter, she “only survives” for her youngest. The mother of Socayna, a 24-year-old student killed by a Kalashnikov shot while she was in her room in a Marseille housing project, confides in her impossible mourning. She denounces “the deafening silence of the authorities” in interviews published by Le Parisien and La Provence on Tuesday, September 10.
“I am a living dead. There is nothing worse than losing your child, there is nothing worse than seeing your daughter killed, murdered in your own home,” Leïla confides.
Socayna was studying in her room when a stray bullet went through the wall of her room and hit her in the face. Brain dead, the student died two days later, leaving her mother and sister inconsolable. Although the family has moved to another apartment in the city, Socayna’s absence is still greatly felt.
“The house is empty, terribly empty. I constantly think that Socayna is going to knock on the door and sit with us in the kitchen. She was everything to me,” insists the woman who denounces an “unfair” situation.
“He’s a criminal, a murderer, period.”
Leïla blames herself, convinced that “Socayna would still be alive” if she had had the means to move out of the Saint-Thys housing project. Followed by a psychiatrist, she has not been able to return to work and she has distanced herself from her daughter whom she “can no longer hold in her arms”. She has “no more feelings”, can no longer sleep, “devoured by questions”, and is only waiting for “the murderers to be judged, condemned, punished”.
A 16-year-old minor suspected of being the shooter in the burst that killed Socayna at a drug dealing point was arrested and charged with murder last February. The public prosecutor then referred to a “case of narchomicide”, explaining that the accused and his relatives were “very largely involved in drug trafficking”.
“It annoys me when I hear people talk about this term: ‘minor’. He’s a criminal, a murderer, period. A minor is normally at school, not in the city with a Kalashnikov. He made a choice. It’s also the parents’ fault, who let their children hang around in the street. It’s also their responsibility,” denounces the victim’s mother.
“She was just a number”
She also regrets that “nothing has changed” since then, believing that there are “still murders, innocent victims, collateral victims”.
“Many elected officials came to see me. But what have they done since? My daughter left for free. In the last few days, I haven’t received a single phone call. It’s total silence, except for a few associations that contact me. The State, the city have forgotten Socayna. In fact, she was just a number, her death made the news, and then nothing, it’s as if we were asked to move on. But it’s impossible.”
To pay tribute to Socayna, a silent march will be organized this Saturday, September 14 in the Joliette district of Marseille, according to La Provence.
