Four young boys purchased yellow Pokemon T-shirts at a shop, like many of their peers. Shortly after, they boarded a stolen car, sped through the streets of Milan, and at high speed struck 71-year-old Cecilia De Astis as she walked along Via Saponaro on the city’s outskirts, killing her. They then exited the vehicle and fled without aiding her or looking back.
The reconstruction of Monday’s events in Milan confirms what surveillance footage revealed immediately: Cecilia was killed by a group of youngsters, more children than teenagers. At the wheel of the car, stolen Sunday from a 20-year-old French tourist, was a 13-year-old. He lost control of the vehicle; after hitting the pensioner, it crashed into a green area. His three companions were even younger: two boys aged 12 and a girl, just 11. After the crash, they fled in different directions. When officers from the Local Police, commanded by Gianluca Mirabelli, tracked them down at an informal settlement in Via Selvanesco, they found themselves facing little more than children. The police fully identified them and referred their cases to the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office, as they are not indictable under Italian law for being under 14 years old.
Juvenile magistrates must now carefully consider what measures to request from the Juvenile Court. Civil measures could include removal from parents deemed inadequate in the most serious cases; criminal measures could involve placement in a community if a minor is judged socially dangerous. Magistrates will need to evaluate each child’s conduct and responsibility case by case, though the gravest position is certainly that of the 13-year-old driver who lost control, hitting the elderly woman and throwing her dozens of meters. The woman died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Her children had appealed to the hit-and-run drivers: “Turn yourselves in.”
The boys did not surrender. However, Local Police officers reviewed the incident footage, recognized the distinctive shirts, and traced them back to the shop where they were bought. There, they obtained clearer images of the children’s faces. The area where the tragedy occurred is well-monitored, and investigators quickly located the informal settlement on Via Salvanesco.
The identification of those responsible ignited a political controversy. Deputy Prime Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini wrote on social media: “If what the newspapers report is true, it would be insane. Roma camp to be cleared immediately, then razed after years of thefts and violence, pseudo ‘parents’ to be arrested and parental authority revoked. Mayor Sala and the left, are you there???” His comments were echoed by other centre-right figures. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala countered: “On the death of a person in such terrible circumstances, I find it shameful to speculate, especially from high representatives of the government.” Regarding “Roma settlements and their resolution,” Sala stressed that coordination with law enforcement happens via the Prefecture, the Interior Ministry’s local office, and that the city has pursued “a policy of overcoming them for years.” He noted: “Centre-left administrations closed 24 camps between 2013 and 2024 – 4 authorized and 20 irregular. Centre-right administrations, who are shouting now, only closed one when they governed the city.” The mayor did agree with Salvini on one point: “There is no doubt that the families of the boys involved must account for what happened. And on this,” he assured, “we will demand the utmost severity.”