In recent days, a piece of crime news has shocked Italy: Thomas Christopher Luciani, 17 years old, he was killed by 25 stab wounds by two minors for 250 euros in Pescara and left in a park, where he was found on the evening of 23 June. After the murder the alleged murderers went for a swim in the sea and they got rid of the knife.
Among the parents of the alleged murderers are a police commander and a lawyer
The fact is striking in many respects: the brutal violence, for the young age of those responsible, for trivial reasons, for what seems like a total lack of empathy. It also became known, as reported The Republic, that those accused of the murder would be one the son of a police commander and the other of a well-known lawyer.
TO raise the alarm on the murder of the 17-year-old, who lived in a community, a few hours after the events, according to what was learned one of the young people who was part of the group together with the two suspects, after understanding the seriousness of the incident. It seems there was a debt of a few hundred euros involved that the two alleged murderers owed to the victim for the repeated unpaid purchase of drugs.
“What happened in Pescara is a tragedy”. The mayor of Pescara said it, Carlo Masci. “The murder of a very young man, which allegedly occurred at the hands of other young people, leaves one dismayed and speechless, whatever the motive and the scenario in which the bloody crime took place. Regardless of the reasons, which we do not know, one cannot die when one has a whole life ahead of one, just as it is absurd for one to be guilty of such a serious crime. These are precious hours for those investigating and any reconstruction would be hasty and partial so it is best to let the investigators work. There has already been a first ‘answer’, immediate and punctual, regarding this assassination: I had no doubt that this would happen and I thank those who have been busy since last night reconstructing everything to close the circle. Unfortunately, the political controversies of those who are experts not in security, but in profiteering were also immediate and timely and have once again demonstrated that they cannot remain silent even in the face of the death of a young boy. We must all ask ourselves about the limits and shortcomings of our society in relationships with the youngest: the institutions, the world of school, families must always protect and support children, preventing or slowing down any deviance or drift, and when episodes of Given this gravity, it is clear that we need to ask ourselves questions. My embrace goes to the family and friends of the victim and my thoughts also go to the families of those involved in the murder, overwhelmed by such a serious event.”
“Society’s gray area”
To comment on the facts Donatella Di Pietrantonio, writer finalist for the Strega award who lives and works in the Pescara area. “The indifference with which these actions following the murder were carried out is striking. A total lack of empathy and understanding of the gravity of the act committed,” she said.
“It is clear that on the occasion of these news episodes, this discomfort among young people emerges forcefully, which we find here on both sides. On the one hand, there is a boy who is fragile due to his family history, due to marginality, due to having also gone through the reality of juvenile prison. On the other, the opposite but complementary discomfort of young people who are children instead of well-being, of a middle class, but affected by an abysmal void, in which there is no space for the recognition of the other within themselves. No idea of the sacredness of another’s life. And then the crime committed with all these stabbings, as if it were a game, a virtual reality, almost a tragic performance after which you can go and do anything else, see your friends, have fun. As if nothing had happened, as if the taboo of the sacredness of the other’s body had not been broken”, this is his analysis.
“I would like to bring attention to that age group between 15 and 18 which constitutes a sort of gray area of society, where alternative cultural proposals do not arrive. It’s as if no one cares about them, they have no references. They are neither children nor adults. They are at the same time fragile and aggressive. Maybe you see them destroyed by their girlfriend who leaves them, but in a pack they become violent. Aggressive youth fashions often take root in that range. These are kids who are missing pieces, they have a hypertrophied but totally empty self. Where the representation of the other than oneself is missing,” she concluded with bitterness.
