Four suspects charged over murder of 15-year-old schoolboy in France

Four young men were charged with murder on Sunday night following the death of 15-year-old Shamseddine in France, the public prosecutor’s office has announced. 

The teenager was beaten up on Thursday as he left his secondary school in Viry-Châtillon Essonne, south of Paris.  

He was beaten by a group, including two brothers, in a dispute linked to their younger sister on “subjects relating to sexuality”, prosecutor Grégoire Dulin said in an earlier statement.

One of the 15-year-old minors has also been charged with “wilfully failing to prevent a crime”, added the public prosecutor.

Two of the accused – a 20-year-old adult and a minor – have been remanded in custody. The other two young men have also been remanded in custody, pending a hearing before the liberty and custody judge on Wednesday.

All five were taken into custody on Friday, the day after the incident. The victim, who was treated by emergency services and hospitalised at Necker Hospital in Paris, died on Friday afternoon as a result of his injuries.

According to the initial findings of the investigation and the statements of the accused, quoted by the public prosecutor early on Sunday evening, the two brothers had “feared for her reputation and that of their family” before attacking Shamseddine.

According to information from franceinfo, the teenager suffered a head injury and had other lesions on his body.

The two brothers had already been convicted of violence and drug offences.

According to the public prosecutor, the investigation established that the sister, aged 15, was not present at the time of the events. She is the one who has been charged with “wilfully failing to prevent a crime”. 

As requested by the public prosecutor, “a provisional judicial educational measure has been ordered against her, including placement in an educational establishment and a ban on appearing in Essonne”.