"Sardinia was so kind in hosting this young murderer, but it is right that the Sardinians know my daughter's story."

On the other end of the phone, the voice, strangled by pain, is that of Vincenzo Gualzetti, father of Chiara, the fifteen-year-old killed in June 2021 in Monteveglio, near Bologna. The one who killed her was one of her peers, Andrea Iavarone, now an adult who is serving a sentence of 16 years and 4 months in prison - the maximum allowed for a minor - in the Quartucciu juvenile prison.

The story

«Chiara was lured into a tragic trap with the excuse of going for a walk and giving her a gift – says the man without being able to hold back his tears -, he himself said it during the trial. He turned her around, put his hand in front of her mouth and hit her from behind: first a stab wound in the back of the head, then in the chest and, not satisfied, he kicked her, even breaking his foot. It seems he also took a selfie with my daughter's body."

The murder that shocked the small community of Monteveglio was committed on June 27, 2021. After the crime, the girl's body was abandoned at the edge of a forest in the park of the Monteveglio Abbey and was found a day later research.

The young man admitted after being arrested that he had premeditated the murder and that he had already previously tried to kill his friend. And then he confessed to the investigators that he acted because he was guided by a demon, Samae, protagonist of the fantasy series Lucifer. For him the sentence of 16 years and four months was confirmed on appeal last March, he was detained in the juvenile prison of Pratello di Bologna and was subsequently transferred to that of Quartucciu.

«It took five expert reports to attest to his lucidity», continues Vincenzo Gualzatti, «when he killed my daughter he sent a message to a friend and wrote to her “I succeeded, I killed that loser”. The other girl asked him, “What's this girl's name?” and he very coldly and lucidly replied: “Her name was Chiara”. He sidetracked the investigations, he played with the text messages and did everything with great clarity."

Vincenzo's pain is excruciating, a wound that bleeds every day and that no one can really understand. A suffering that until last July he shared with his wife Giusy, who died after a long illness and torn apart by the death of their only daughter. «I'm sure that now he's with Chiara again, but now mine is a half life, which no longer has any flavor. I didn't clear out Chiara's room, I didn't throw away her clothes. Sometimes I think that at any moment he might come back to me. Processing the death of a child is never easy, least of all a death like this."

The battle

For Chiara's father, however, this story cannot end like this. «Everyone worked to obtain an exemplary sentence, however, my Chiara will not return. Sixteen years and four months are in line with what was requested by the Prosecutor's Office and practically the maximum sentence allowed by the juvenile system and by the shortened procedure chosen by the accused", the man further highlights, "but it cannot be enough, Chiara will not return" , he repeats.

Now Vincenzo is aiming to fight to obtain more severe penalties for minors: a project to change the law supported by the lawyer who has represented him in recent years, Giovanna Annunziata. «The fact that a minor committed the murder cannot automatically lead to a reduction in the sentence. The court judge must decide, case by case, whether or not to apply the maximum sentence. We must unite to say enough to brutal and senseless deaths."

Francesca Melis

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