From a "
beautiful day
" to a life on anxiolytics: Angela's family, voluntarily mown down by a man in 2017, retraced Thursday, September 1 before the Créteil Assize Court of Appeal the moment when everything changed and the pain that never leaves them.
“
August 14, 2017, it was basically a beautiful day, I had my children with me
,” begins Elisabeth Jakov, known as Betty.
That day, she is tidying up with her eldest Nikola, 17, and her youngest, Angela, 13, in their house in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, a peaceful town in Seine-et-Marne.
The youngest, Dimitri, is in the airy center.
“
To reward them
” after a productive day, she suggests going to dinner at the Cesena pizzeria located in the ZAC of Sept-Sorts, where they have their habits.
"Revenge on Human Beings"
Joined by Father Sasha, the family settles down “
for the first time
” on the terrace.
Angela and her mother switch places, drinks are served.
The family hears a screech.
They barely have time to turn around when a car going at full speed hits them.
The shock is such that the car crosses the window and the dining room before crashing into the bar.
Read alsoA mysterious environmental collective deflates the tires of large cars at night in major cities
Angela dies on the spot, Dimitri, 3 years old, is seriously injured.
In addition to Dimitri, 11 other customers are injured.
At the wheel of the BMW, David Patterson, 32 years old at the time of the facts.
Feeling that he was the target of a conspiracy, he had wanted "
to take revenge on the human being
".
Last year, he was convicted of murder and attempted murder by the Seine-et-Marne Assize Court and received the maximum sentence, life imprisonment with a security period of twenty-two years.
The jury had retained the alteration of discernment at the time of the tragedy but justified its sentence by the "
exceptional dangerousness
" of the accused.
David Patterson has appealed, hoping to have his sentence reduced due to his mental issues.
In an oversized black polo shirt, shaved head, "
puffy and unrecognizable
" according to a civil party, David Patterson remained silent and stoic throughout this third day of hearing.
"It's inhuman what I did"
Invited by the president of the court to speak, he stands up.
“
Even if there is no word to match your suffering, I would like to apologize.
I really regret what I did, I'm sorry.
It's inhuman what I did
,” he said.
François Mazon, lawyer for the Jakov family, asks Betty what she thinks of her apology.
“
You know when I'm going to forgive him?
When he gives me back my daughter.
I cannot forgive someone who had this premeditated and voluntary act
, ”she asserts.
Since August 14, 2017, “
our whole life has changed.
A life between hospitals, psychiatry, drugs, rehabilitation, psychologists
, ”laments Betty Jakov.
She no longer counts the operations and the round trips to the rehabilitation center for Dimitri, 9 years old today.
Her husband Sasha will soon undergo an eighth leg operation.
Above all, it is Angela's absence that torments the family.
Dimitri once asked his parents if it was possible to "
put a knife in his heart
" to go see his sister.
“
And then I come back to see you
,” he added.
Read alsoNew refusal to comply in Marseille, relatives of a suspect take revenge by running into the police
The eldest was unable to pass his baccalaureate in 2017. Five years later, he resumed studies on a work-study basis.
At the helm, he speaks with emotion of his sister "
beautiful, kind... perfection
".
"
She excelled in basketball, was horseback riding, she could do what she wanted, she was a very intelligent person
", describes Nikola.
“
How is family life today?
“Asks the president of the court Isabelle Pulver.
“
There is always this lack.
There is not a day when we will not think of Angela
, ”replies the young man.
“
We always remain very united, that's what makes us strong.
»
