A long minute of silence.
This Wednesday, the inhabitants of Clos des Perroquets in Champigny-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne) gathered around 3 p.m. to pay tribute to Matteo, 17, killed the day before by another young man from the residence, aged 16 years old.
The drama occurred late Tuesday afternoon, around 6:45 p.m.
After a heated altercation, the alleged murderer stabbed Matteo, who died at the scene of the tragedy despite the intervention of firefighters.
The minor, arrested in a Seine-et-Marne station two hours after the incident, was still heard on Wednesday by investigators from the Departmental Section of the Judicial Police of Val-de-Marne, in charge of the case. A search took place during the day at the home of the suspect.
The inhabitants of the residence but especially the friends of the victim are in shock.
“I saw him die.
My hands were full of blood.
I was one of the first to throw myself at him to help him, ”recounts with difficulty one of his close friends, who prefers to keep his name silent.
The 19-year-old was in the same high school as Matteo.
He talks about someone "nice, a cool guy with no story".
He is, like other friends of the victim, at the origin of this tribute.
“It could have happened to anyone but especially not him.
He never made a fuss.
It was white as snow, ”he adds.
"He was a super nice little boy, very polite"
"I ask you to come closer, we will make a minute of silence", launches the young man timidly.
In a leaden silence, the inhabitants gather around the relatives of the victim, standing in front of the bouquets of flowers deposited at the scene of the tragedy.
Two teenagers surround the group and light “white smoke bombs, because Matteo was an angel”.
A moving tribute to Matteo this Wednesday afternoon at Clos des Perroquets, in Champigny-sur-Marne.
The 17-year-old was killed by stabbing last night.
@le_Parisien pic.twitter.com/ySKgQrR2ZP
- Marion Durand (@ DURANDMarion2) May 19, 2021
All the inhabitants concede it, “there are fights sometimes”, but that one of them loses his life, “it never happened”. Small groups come and go throughout the afternoon. Each time, the conversations are similar: the inhabitants rewrite the scenario, trying to understand how such a tragedy could have occurred at the foot of their building: “It's difficult when it happens downstairs. When it happens in other cities it's still fiction, we say to ourselves that it is only on TV ”, confides this father, whose wife brought first aid to the victim before the arrival of the firefighters. The latter struggles to contain her tears: “He was a super nice little boy, very polite. He never said insults, never insults, ”she recalls.This 41-year-old mother refuses to let her son grow up under these conditions: “I've lived here for two years, I don't intend to stay. I am afraid for my child, I forbid him to play in the residence. "
A fund to help Matteo's mom
Many mothers from the Clos des Perroquets buildings took part in the tribute.
Pushchair in hand or arm in arm with their children, these mothers say they are very worried.
“I have two children, 4 and 5 years old, I won't let them go out.
We are afraid of everything now, ”says one of them.
“Me, they are 10 and 7 years old, they never went out in the residence without us.
We make sure that there is always the daddy or the grandpa ”, adds another.
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The inhabitants decided to set up a kitty to help the mother of the young boy who died, in particular for the expenses related to the funeral.
“The mothers are going to do a quest and we young people are going to do one on our side.
We will give it on Friday, ”announces one of the young people at the end of the tribute.
The inhabitants present during the tribute have a touched thought towards the mother of the victim.
And sometimes, to the mother of the alleged murderer.
“The two mothers hurt.
It's two destroyed families.
Neither was present during the tribute.
Moreover, "following threats received on Tuesday evening, the mother of the alleged murderer was extracted from the neighborhood", laments the mayor Laurent Jeanne (Free!).