A 14-year-old boy was killed on Friday in Evreux; his 16-year-old alleged attacker reported himself to the police and was taken into custody in the evening, we learned from a police source on Saturday.
Friday between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., an altercation broke out between two minors in the sensitive Madeleine district “for a reason still unknown,” Evreux public prosecutor Rémi Coutin told AFP. “One of the two minors, aged 16, apparently suffered at least one stab wound to the chest of the other minor, aged 14, who died very quickly,” said the magistrate.
The victim was reportedly transported by his own family to the hospital, where his death “was immediately noted,” according to the prosecutor. He did not confirm initial reports from a source close to the matter that the alleged attacker had turned himself in to the police. “What I can say is that the alleged perpetrator was very quickly arrested and taken into custody by the Evreux police,” underlines the magistrate.
Police custody should be extended until Sunday and a judicial investigation will be opened. A flagrant investigation into the murder of a minor under the age of 15 is underway, he added.
“The alleged perpetrator is in police custody and he will logically be questioned on several occasions; logically police custody will be extended this evening, and logically there will be a judicial investigation open tomorrow (Sunday) at the end of the afternoon at the Evreux court,” he further clarified.
The prosecutor remained cautious about the origin of the altercation between the two defendants. A press conference on this case will be organized at the Evreux court on Monday, and no other information will be communicated by the courts until then.
According to the mayor of Evreux Guy Lefrand, contacted by AFP, “according to the first elements of the investigation, a romantic quarrel would be at the origin of the facts”. According to him, the suspect and the victim “are from the same community, the same group”. The altercation occurred in the priority district of Madeleine, which has been the scene of urban violence or clashes between gangs in recent years, but which was “rather calm lately” according to the mayor.
Following the death of the 14-year-old teenager, “there was no particular commotion, it was very calm, we monitored last night, nothing particular happened,” he assured. “It’s more a story within a group than anything else,” he said.
