“he killed my daughter”, cries Mila who lost her baby

PROCESS – « I won't be able to go back to the way I was before “. The trial of Pierre Palmade opened this Wednesday, November 20 in Melun for the serious road accident he caused in Seine-et-Marne under the influence of narcotics, causing serious injuries to three members of the same family and resulting in the death of an unborn baby. Entering the court through a back door to escape the swarm of cameras, according to the journalists present on site, Pierre Palmade sat on the dock between his lawyers, pale complexion, sunken face, staring into space, dressed of a black jacket over a white shirt. He faced his victims.

Yuksel Yakut, the driver of the car aged 38 at the time of the incident, took the stand. With his arm in a sling, he had to sit down after putting down his crutches. Helped by an interpreter, he explains: “Before the accident, I was working, I had friends, I was earning money. My life before was like a dream. » After 171 days of ITT, 6 operations, a hip prosthesis and plates in one leg, this father explains that he can no longer spend time with his children outside.

He also provides news of the state of health of his six-year-old son, also a victim of the accident. “ The latter can walk, but has speech difficulties », Specifies a BFMTV journalist present on site.

« He killed my daughter »

Then, the president read the report of Mila, the 27-year-old young woman who lost her baby, who had a cesarean section following the accident. “My doctor told me my baby was not doing well. That an emergency cesarean section was needed. I woke up. They told me he didn't survive.”he reads.

Since the accident Mila seems to have been going through hell. “I don’t look at my stomach. I wash, but I don't look. My nose is broken and displaced. My teeth are broken. I have orthopedic follow-up. My vertebrae were affected. »she said during her report.

This before declaring before the judge: “He killed my daughter. She was whole. I counted his fingers. She showed me her eyes. She left alone. I was starting to feel it. It was the home stretch…”

Called to the stand, the young woman sobbed softly and confirmed the words read by the president. She, who gave birth to a child two months ago, explains that she was not able to become attached to him during the pregnancy because of the trauma.

The mother specifies that her companion is not present because “he didn't want to face the gaze of the person who was responsible for the death of our child. There is still a lot of anger. » Faced with her depression, Mila's couple almost “ explode » several times, in his words.

Jurisprudence

The qualification of involuntary homicide, which the prosecution had requested for the loss of the fetus, considering that this thorny question at the confluence of bioethics and law deserved a “debate before the trial court”was not retained.

Following the accident, the baby was urgently extracted by cesarean section from his mother's womb at six months of pregnancy, but declared dead after 32 minutes of resuscitation, without having given any sign of extra-uterine life. However, according to consistent case law from the Court of Cassation which has ruled on similar cases of road accidents, a child who is not born alive does not exist as a legal person.

Pierre Palmade is a repeat offender due to a conviction in 2019 for drug use. He thus faces a sentence of fourteen years' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 euros.

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