THE EAGLE. The Municipality and the Ministry of Education have appeared to contest their criminal and compensatory involvement, in particular, in the context of the request for damages of 2 million euros made a few weeks ago by the civil party: this is what happened in the preliminary hearing concerning the investigation into the death of little Tommaso D’Agostino, hit and killed by a car on 18 May 2022 while he was playing in front of the entrance to the I Maggio nursery school in via Salaria Antica est in L’Aquila.
The judge Guendalina Buccella has adjourned the preliminary hearing until November 6th in which everything will be decided. On that occasion, the lawyer Francesco Valentini will ask for the abbreviated procedure which provides for the reduction of the sentence by a third, for his client, the 39-year-old Zhorova Radostina Balabanova who was driving the car: she is accused of having parked the car, a Passat , without applying the handbrake and, having got out of the vehicle to pick up her two twin children from school, leaving the third 11-year-old child alone on board (not attributable).
According to the prosecutor’s office, it was the boy who operated the gear lever, causing the car to move downhill, which then killed the 4-year-old boy and injured other children who were playing with him. According to the experts, the car was traveling at 27 kilometers per hour. The crimes charged against the four suspects are vehicular homicide, injuries with some aggravating circumstances, such as having committed the crime against minors and in the vicinity of a school, as well as violations of the highway code. The expected sentence ranges from two to seven years. Monia Lai, a 48-year-old from L’Aquila, head teacher of the nursery school, risks being prosecuted under the ordinary rite; Bruno Martini, 60 years old from L’Aquila, responsible for the prevention service of the Mazzini comprehensive institute of which the Pile nursery school is part, and Antonello Giampaolini, also 60 years old from L’Aquila, responsible for the school building sector of the Municipality of L’Aquila and director of works in the contract for the school complex. The three would be accused in complicity, despite the difference in their roles, of road homicide having omitted a risk assessment and ignoring prevention measures, not having signs with traffic bans or a sturdy fence or a low wall that could resist that type of impact.
The building of the Pile nursery school (Mazzini comprehensive institute) has been closed: it dates back to before the 1980s and is owned by the Municipality of L’Aquila which has prepared a renovation project.
