Three minutes.
This is the estimated time that one-year-old Vanille lay dying when her mother smothered her.
In addition to the brown adhesive tape that surrounded her face, Nathalie S., 42, put her hand on her daughter's mouth and nose to make sure to "
make her go
".
The tape was so tight that during the autopsy, his face was unrecognizable, "
the skin color had nothing to do with the rest of the body
, insists the Advocate General,
his lips no longer had a natural appearance
".
On the benches of the Assize Court of Maine-et-Loire, eyes fall, take refuge on the ground.
Only the serious face of the president remains, facing the mute accused.
During these three minutes of suffocation, Vanille tried to defend herself, scratching her mother, struggling.
But in this park in Angers, on February 7, 2020, there was no one to help him.
She had no chance.
“
Would you like us to have three minutes of silence to assess its length?
The president would like so much to arouse a start in this frail figure who staggers in the box.
He will only get silences.
After three days of hearing, the infanticidal mother was sentenced on Wednesday to life imprisonment, with a security period of 22 years.
"She wanted the whole world"
When Vanille was born on February 7, 2019, signals quickly alerted social services.
Hosted in a maternal center which accompanies young mothers in difficulty, Nathalie S. neglected her daughter, did not watch her meals, carried her little.
When the child fell from her stroller at the entrance to a tobacco shop, she preferred to buy her cigarettes than worry about her condition.
An “
alarming finding
” is drawn up by the child welfare department, leading to a first placement measure.
The accused, with drooping shoulders and receding chin, confirms her state
of "exhaustion
" but refutes the accusations: "
I took good care of Vanille
she blurts out between heavy breaths.
As the months pass, his custody is gradually taken away.
The decision is therefore recorded on December 3: she will kill her daughter.
- Why are you making this decision?,
asks President Xavier Lenoir.
- Because I knew I wouldn't get custody. (sic)
- When a legal decision is taken, should the interest of the adult or the child prevail?
- From the child.
- We totally agree. (…) Why don't you tell anyone?
- Because I'm like that.
- This is perhaps a bit short, Madame, as an answer.
During her interrogation, Nathalie S. refuses to return to the 66 days during which this disastrous project matures in her mind.
The judge tries repeatedly to take a step towards her so that this facade of coldness cracks.
In vain.
In his speech, his daughter is absent, there is only “
I
” against the others, the social services which “
destroyed
” his family.
“
Vanille appears to be the one that shows that the system has failed
,” analyzes the magistrate.
But Vanille, Madam, what place does she have in all this?
" Silence.
Her anger is built against the other, "
she
was angry with the whole earth
“Reports a witness.
The accused does not attempt to justify herself or move the audience.
She refuses the outstretched hand of her lawyer who begs her to speak.
"
Do you want to defend yourself today?"
“, ends up asking Me Olivia Brulay.
“
No
”, admits his client.
The 'child of shame and stigma'
Behind this “
100% assumed
” gesture , there is a deep rejection of Vanille and what it represents.
Nathalie S. grew up in a “
loveless
” home, in the words of her brother, who came to testify at the trial of the one he calls “
the murderer of Vanille
”.
The father let off steam on his children, would have sexually assaulted the accused, while the mother, under the influence, watched helplessly.
As an adult, her life is marked by periods of wandering, interspersed with a relationship from which a first child will be born, then short-lived relationships from which Vanille is born.
“
She is the child of shame and stigma
,” explains the expert psychologist.
"
Vanille is invested as an object more than a subject
“, abounds the psychiatrist expert, who did not perceive in the accused any”
post-traumatic element
“: killing her was”
the best alternative.
She has no regrets."
Neither were able to rule out the risk of recidivism, citing "
high dangerousness
".
A finding which led the Advocate General to request, against Nathalie S., the maximum sentence.
Read alsoIn Angers, the trial of an infanticide mother: "I took Vanille's life so that it wouldn't be taken from me"
Facing her, a dozen women huddle together on the public benches.
They sometimes exchange a look, share a handkerchief or release the same sigh of disapproval with regard to the person concerned.
Educators at the maternal center, they keep an intact memory of Vanille, of "
the very coquettish way
" in which she was dressed on the day of her death and of the amazement which won them after.
“
It was a bad horror movie
,” breathes one of them at the helm.
Beyond the trauma, we had to bear the weight of guilt for not having been able to prevent the infanticide.
“
It was a shock.
We kept turning the situation around in our heads.
In the team, burn-outs, sick leaves and resignations have multiplied.
Today, they are there to support Dominique M., Vanille's maternal assistant, who is a civil party.
This big guy steps forward at the helm, then warns: "
I'm going to try not to let myself be overwhelmed by emotions
."
He began caring for her when she was an infant in March 2019. He had been given the mission of “
resuscitating this little
one ” who was “
wasting away
”.
“
She was a little girl with a great need for carrying, wrapping.
She was in high demand, clinging, snuggling up to me.
»
“
I didn't choose to be a family assistant to go and put flowers on a little grave.
»
Dominique M., Vanille's maternal assistant, is a civil party.
Over the months, Vanille woke up.
“
She was getting a little jesty, a little naughty, pretending to be asleep to grab my glasses.
We were fooling around on the couch.”
When he had no news on February 7, 2020, he first thought of running away.
Then the abduction alert came, followed by “
the terrible news
”.
After that, Dominique couldn't find her place.
He was floored but felt like he didn't have permission to be.
The mist reaches the glass of his glasses.
“
I didn't choose to be a family assistant to go and put flowers on a little grave.
Snapshots of them are shown on the screen, a small body wrapped in the arms of a giant.
"
She and I had a special bond.
It was a meeting.
She had a privileged place.
Since then, he has continued his work as a maternal assistant because “
other children need it.
He thinks of Vanille every day and has kept a pair of shoes and a pacifier from her, "
a treasure."
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