The pony club of Laizé (Saône-et-Loire), where the victim had been dismissed for almost 10 years, had sent the message on social networks: he wanted the participants in the white march in tribute to Emma J., stabbed to death Thursday, June 9 by her boyfriend, come with a white dress item and a flower.
This Monday, June 13, the request was heard: with the yellow and green reflections of the crops and vines of the Haut Mâconnais, a white mass of at least 800 people mingled at the end of the afternoon (according to figures from the gendarmerie) which progressed for an hour over approximately four kilometres.
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“This march, we (Emma, editor’s note) owe him. Organizing it immediately became obvious,
says an employee of the equestrian center who prefers to remain anonymous.
Emma was a popular rider who rode three times a week and was incredibly kind.
To say that this kid was perfect would be presumptuous but I don't see any other way to express it
, ”she adds, her throat tight.
“
She was so beautiful, so sweet.
We thought she was 18, she was a doll
, ”says a friend of Emma's family.
“She was their only daughter, they had wanted her for a long time and did everything to make her happy”
Friends of the pony club, comrades of the Victor Hugo college in Lugny - where the 13-year-old teenager was educated in fourth grade -, neighbors, elected officials of the town, former teacher of the primary school and anonymous... All walked under the sun, in an almost religious silence, to the place where the body of the young girl was found last Thursday in the early morning, behind the municipal school of Clessé.
The girl's relatives were also present.
His parents, his half-sister Kelly, eighteen years his senior, his godfather whom some have called "
second dad
".
And even Rubis, the Isabella coat pony that Emma had been riding for several years and who took the lead of the procession, guided by a few riders holding tribute signs in their hands.
"Her parents had sacrificed themselves so that she could fully live her passion by taking this pony on half board
," breathes Me Patrick Uzan, the lawyer for the victim's family.
She was their only daughter, they had wanted her for a long time and did everything to make her happy.
»
Emma's friends carried signs of tribute with hearts and little notes to the missing girl's address.
Nicolas Daguin
In certain ceremonies of homage, shots are fired in the air, well here it is almost the same.
Only our own weapon has petals and does not rumble.
»
A pensioner, resident of Clessé and participant in the white march.
Several times, the procession paused, holding out its pink and white flowers to the sky.
A symbolic gesture, since in horse riding, a rider raises his arm to indicate to those following that he wants to slow down, or even stop for a moment.
“In some ceremonies of homage we fire shots in the air, well here it is almost the same.
Only our own weapon has petals and does not growl”
, poetizes a pensioner, resident of Clessé, somewhat out of breath by the rhythm of the walk breathed by the pony Ruby.
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In the horse riding world, a rider raises his arm to signal to others that he wishes to take a break.
In homage and a nod to this tradition, the crowd points its flowers to the sky.
Nicolas Daguin
Tears and applause
For four days, the entire small town of Haut Mâconnais, whose flags have been lowered, has been idling.
Obsessed with the tragic death of a local child.
“I assure you that we don't sleep much anymore”
, testifies in this sense Jean-Pierre Chevrier, the mayor of Clessé.
"This drama is part of the village now, and the pain will last a long time
," continues the city councilor, who explains that he has met Emma's parents two to three times a day since the tragedy.
“
They need support in every sense of the word.
From a psychological point of view obviously, but also from the administrative side.
For all things burial and that sort of thing.
It's horrible.
And Me Uzan adds:
“These are people who are devastated today.
They cannot imagine that their child was murdered.
They are kind of virtual.
»
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Arrived at the end of its course, the procession gathered around a small altar of circumstance, where photos of the teenager were arranged among the colorful bouquets.
A thick green candle was also placed on the ground, in the center of a heart drawn with gravel.
One after the other, relatives, friends and anonymous people laid their flowers at the foot of the altar.
Moved behind her dark glasses, Emma's mother received condolences from some, words and gestures of affection from others.
Little by little, faces turned red and tears broke the silence that had reigned until then.
There followed a time of applause after Emma's mother, in a few words, thanked the procession for her presence, her support.
"
We don't want things like that to happen anymore.
We want you to bring our daughter to life through your hearts every day.
Because we are going to need
it,” she said before leaving.
By 8 p.m., while the crowd had already dispersed almost entirely, some remained there, unable to leave the place.
Many teenagers in particular, mute.
"A will to kill"
After the teenager's stabbed body was discovered last Thursday, suspicion quickly fell on her 14-year-old boyfriend Joris.
He was arrested directly at the college and placed in police custody.
During his hearing, the schoolboy quickly confirmed that he had made an appointment with his girlfriend, whom he sometimes found at night, and that he
had "stabbed her three times in the neck"
, according to the elements communicated by the Mâcon prosecutor's office.
The victim
"tried to flee, but the suspect tried to strangle him and then stabbed him again"
, according to the same source.
And to add that new auditions of the boy have brought to light
“a will […] to kill.
He thought his act could be facilitated by the fact that the victim loved him.
He said he had trained in the handling of a knife.
The psychiatric examination of the respondent concluded to a significant alteration of discernment, without abolition, which opens the way to a criminal sanction.
Without a criminal record, this minor risks up to 20 years in prison for murder.
He was indicted on Friday and imprisoned in an establishment with a section for minors and a psychiatric health unit.
