«The family wants justice. This is what her grandmother Olga and her mother ask, as she was unable to attend her funeral due to health problems, but she was always close to her son.” Speaking is the lawyer Giacomo Marganella, who protects the family of Cristopher Thomas Luciani, the 16-year-old boy stabbed to death over a small drug debt and abandoned in a dark corner of the Baden Powell park in Pescara. Crox’s mother, Elisangela, has been living in Germany for a long time. In the village of Rosciano, where the young man grew up, they say they last saw her at her son’s Communion. Her absence from the funeral has exposed her to criticism, especially on social media. But instead of her there was her sister, also Brazilian, who had returned from Germany precisely to represent her at her funeral ceremony: Cristopher’s aunt, Paola, sat next to grandmother Olga in her church. At the end of the function, the Archbishop of Pescara, Tommaso Valentinetti, invited the grandmother and relatives to a meeting in the Curia because «a leap of responsibility is needed: these things are not justifiable. These things are not understandable » he said in the homily.
THE PASTOR
The parish priest of Rosciano, Mark Spadaccini, says that «Christopher’s mother is on a journey and couldn’t come, I know she didn’t want to see her son in a coffin». A shock too great for Elisangela who is facing a health problem, which did not allow her to be present on Friday at the funeral of Crox, as her friends called Christopher Thomas. «Grandma Olga is sending positive messages to the children, she is waging an educational battle» adds the priest. She is attacking drugs and dealing. Even yesterday on TV he repeated: «Guys open your eyes, don’t be dummies. Put the money for the doses in the piggy bank and go on holiday with friends.” For her, Christopher is the child she held in her arms as a baby, the one who went to the Catignano oratory when she had the jewelery shop, and to the football school in Rosciano. «He was an enthusiastic, vital, very smart child» recalls the parish priest. No one can explain how he entered the dark world of drugs. The absence of that father who never recognized him and his mother who had chosen to leave Italy, leaving him at the age of three in the caring hands of his grandmother, who he had custody.
MAYOR
A Rosciano Mayor Simone Palozzo is still shocked. In church, at the funeral when he spoke, he couldn’t hold back his emotion: “We must do everything we can to remember Cristopher, the spotlight must not go out. On July 3, we will have a minute of silence during the inauguration of the City Council. I will also invite his grandmother. And we want to name the park we are building in Villa San Giovanni after the boy, it will be a hymn to youth.” Olga and the mayor have known each other for decades, also linked to the foster care of Cristopher. “His mother? I have never met her in these 15 years, first as a councilor and then as mayor, I know she lives outside of Italy,” says the mayor.
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