Paris investigators have charged a woman suspected of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl whose body was found in a trunk on Friday, a source familiar with the matter said.
The main suspect, identified as a 24-year-old woman with a psychiatric disorder, was questioned on Monday along with an older man suspected of protecting her.
The 24-year-old has been charged with the rape and murder of a minor under the age of 15 as well as torture and abuse, the source said. A judge ordered her to be placed in custody.
Prosecutors said in a press release today that during questioning the woman made “varying statements, switching between admitting and denying the facts of the case,” according to RTE.
But she eventually said she took the girl – identified only by name Lola – to her sister’s apartment in the same building, where she forced her to take a shower.
The woman said she later “committed harm of a sexual nature and other violent acts against (Lola) that caused her death, and hid her body in the trunk,” prosecutors said, reported RTE.
According to the autopsy, the young woman died “cardio-respiratory failure with signs of asphyxia and cervical compression,” reported RTE.
Other non-fatal wounds were found on his face and back, as well as large cuts on his neck, and the numbers 0 and 1 were written in red on the soles of each of his feet.
The suspect’s lawyer, Alexandre Silva, expressed his sympathy for Lola’s family, before urging the press not to report “rumors” and to insist on the presumption of innocence of his client.
The 43-year-old man questioned today in police custody also admitted having taken the 24-year-old woman with the trunk and two suitcases to her home, where she said she stayed for two hours before leaving in a car with driver, he had called her.
The main suspect was arrested in Bois-Colombes, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, on Saturday after investigators monitored her movements with CCTV cameras from the building and its surroundings, as well as using phone records and physical searches. .
Lola’s parents called the police after their daughter failed to return from college on Friday afternoon.
Her father, the caretaker of the building, was shocked to see the stranger enter the building in the 19th arrondissement of Paris with his daughter as she checked the CCTV recordings.
An eyewitness who also saw the suspect at the scene said she offered him money to help move a large trunk, multiple media reported.
But a homeless man was the first to discover the body which, according to sources familiar with the investigation, was concealed under clothing in a plastic box in the courtyard of the building.
Six people, including the suspect’s sister and others who had contact with her immediately after the killing, have so far been taken into custody in connection with the case, four of whom have since been released. .
Local residents laid flowers at the door of the family building over the weekend.
In the meantime, school authorities have announced that they will set up psychological supports for staff and students at Lola’s school and others in the area.
A mother said her daughter, a fellow pupil who knew Lola by sight, “wasn’t doing well today, she doesn’t want to go to school”.
According to RTE, “Today it’s time for mourning and for the investigation, which seems to be progressing quickly,” said the mayor of the 19th arrondissement François Dagnaud during a visit to the Georges-Brassens school.
“Of course, the fact that a 12-year-old child can die in such circumstances is overwhelming for everybody,” he added, adding that advice would also be offered to local residents, reported RTE.
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