A girl on holiday in Naples was killed after being struck in the top with a heavy statuette thrown from a balcony.
Chiara Jaconis, 30, was walking along with her boyfriend through the Spanish Quarters of Naples on September 15, 2024, when she was killed.
CCTV footage from a close-by cafe caught the moment Chiara collapsed, as her partner Livio screamed for help.
In line with investigators, the boy threw a black statuette weighing around 4.4 kilos from a third-floor balcony, striking Chiara as she walked below.
She was rushed to the hospital with severe head injuries, but died just hours later despite emergency surgery.
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Now, the parents of the 13-year-old boy accused of her death have rejected blame for the boy’s behaviour and are demanding that, though he is just too young to be charged, he even be officially cleared of wrongdoing.
Italian prosecutors have requested that the boy’s mother and father be charged with negligent manslaughter, arguing the tragedy might have been prevented in the event that they had kept a better watch on their son.
The teenager has already been cleared by a juvenile court because he’s under the age of 14 and can’t be held criminally responsible under Italian law.
A preliminary hearing to come to a decision whether the case will go to trial is scheduled for twenty sixth June.
Prosecutors say the parents bear responsibility because they didn’t supervise their son, who’s believed to have carried out similar dangerous acts up to now.
Nevertheless, the couple, each professionals in Naples, aged 65 and 54, have strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Through their lawyers, they insist that they had no involvement within the incident and claim the statuette didn’t belong to them.
They’ve also bizarrely appealed the court’s decision to clear their son due to his age, arguing he needs to be acquitted based on the facts of the case moderately than just because of his age.
The case has drawn widespread attention in Italy, raising questions on parental responsibility and safety in densely populated urban areas.
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