“They killed my son,” his mother denounces

Three months after the death of Robin Cotta, a 22-year-old young man, whose throat was slit by his fellow inmate at Baumettes prison in Marseille, we learned that his death could have been avoided. In fact, the inmate allegedly sent several requests to the administration to be moved before his fellow inmate took action. For his mother, it is a fault of the administration. She plans to file a complaint.

It’s been more than three months since Robin Cotta died. This 22-year-old young man, unknown to the courts before being placed in pre-trial detention for forgery and use of forgery, was slit on October 9 by his fellow inmate at Baumettes prison in Marseille.

On Monday, the Radio France investigation unit revealed the first conclusions of the investigation. Conclusions which suggest that Robin’s death could have been avoided. The young man reportedly alerted the administration on several occasions to be kept away from his fellow inmate.

His mother Odile does not understand that nothing was done to protect her son, she plans to file a complaint. During the first 15 days of his pretrial detention, Robin wrote a letter to his father.

“Apparently things were going very well. He said in this letter, ‘I take responsibility, dad, don’t worry’”, indicates Odile, Robin’s mother.

Multiple travel requests

But on October 4, Robin was placed in another cell with a new cellmate, convicted several times for theft and violence. According to the first elements of the investigation, this man has already threatened three former cell neighbors. Robin will send three mails to be moved. “The day he died, Robin asked to change cells again,” says his mother.

Robin even goes so far as to ask to be placed in solitary confinement. But due to lack of space, this request was refused. An hour later, he was found dead. Today, his mother is angry with the administration for not having responded to her alerts.

“I had confidence, I said to myself this prison concept, there is the State, it is tidy, they are careful… I would never have believed that he was going to enter a hell. They killed my son,” she denounces.

Odile will file a complaint

Invited this Tuesday on RMC, she confides that she is going to file a complaint. “I’m not going to give up. I want each supervisor, each person, to take responsibility because they have called on the intercom millions of times but no one has come,” she confides.

Contacted by RMC, the management of the Baumettes administration confirms the launch of an internal investigation in parallel with the legal procedure.