Murder of a 14-year-old in Évreux: 16-year-old suspect, frivolous motive and journalists attacked… What you need to know about the case

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death this Friday, January 10 in Évreux by a 16-year-old boy. A little more than two days after the events, the public prosecutor of Évreux, Rémi Coutin, returned to the circumstances of this tragedy.

Voluntary or involuntary homicide?

The events took place in the sensitive Madeleine district, in Évreux (Eure), between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., but the affair had actually started a few hours earlier. While in police custody, the alleged attacker explained that he was walking with a friend leaving high school when he came across the future victim, whom he knew and who was the former “boyfriend”. of the young girl. The latter would then have criticized him for walking like this with his ex-girlfriend. The 16-year-old teenager replied that he had “no intention towards her, that on the contrary, he wanted to help her get back together with her”, indicated Rémi Coutin.

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But the exchange would have ended badly and the future victim would have threatened to block the other on his social networks. “We don’t want to hang out with you anymore,” he then allegedly sent a message to the 16-year-old, who received several similar messages from other young people in the group once he returned home. The discussion nevertheless continued, until a meeting was set up later to explain physically. “We’re going to explain, it’s going to kill itself,” detailed the Évreux public prosecutor.

Before leaving, the 16-year-old decided to take an “opinel” type knife with him, just “just in case”. Arriving at the meeting place with a friend he met beforehand at the bottom of his building, he then came across a group of seven young people, with whom tension quickly rose. One of them allegedly physically attacked the 16-year-old, who threatened him in return with his knife. The future victim then, according to the story, began to take something from a pocket. Out of fear, the 16-year-old then allegedly aimed his knife at his arm, and therefore accidentally stabbed him in the chest.

“Terribly banal” facts

The victim, taken to hospital by his family, died a few minutes later, while the alleged murderer fled to take refuge with neighbors, whom he quickly told to call the authorities, confiding to them that he had done “bullshit”. “The police went to the address indicated and they discovered in a room, sitting on a bed, a young man who immediately told them that he was the author of the stabbing,” reported Rémi Coutin.

The handle of the knife was found in the bush in which the 16-year-old explained he had thrown it when he fled, even though the blade should still be stuck in the victim’s body. The autopsy will have to confirm this, said the prosecutor.

Concerning the version of the facts of the author of the stabbing, an audio file from a witness to the scene, recovered by investigators on Snapchat, indicates that the teenager “gave his opponent a blow after being hit by this one.” None of the young people who witnessed the scene were heard. Their identification ultimately turns out to be quite complex, despite the images.

Unknown to the police or the courts, the alleged murderer theoretically risks up to 30 years in prison, 15 if the minority excuse is accepted. He could nevertheless see his indictment qualified as “fatal assault” rather than murder at the end of the investigation, which would reduce his potential sentence.

“This is a tragedy which, according to the elements available to us today, is based on facts of a terrible banality,” summarized the magistrate on Monday. “Unfortunately, social networks played a significant role in what happened Friday evening,” he said.

Three female journalists attacked

This Saturday, the day after the tragedy, two women, journalists for the RMC-BFM group, were attacked when they had just produced a duplex for the continuous news channel BFMTV. According to the media, which referred to an “intolerable act”, which it “denounces with the greatest firmness”, the two women were “injured and taken to the emergency room”, it is specified in a press release. The group specifies that it wants to file a complaint, as do the two journalists.

The events occurred in front of a police station in the city, which allowed the police to intervene quickly to help the victims, who said they were very shocked.

The same day, a journalist from the M6 ​​group, also sent there to cover this news item, was also attacked, according to a message from the channel posted on social networks.

No arrests have reportedly taken place in connection with these attacks to date.