©jinzhe lan via Unsplash
The public prosecutor's office in Rennes, Brittany, France, has opened a murder investigation after the lifeless body of an 11-year-old boy was found on Sunday. Meanwhile, the two main suspects have confessed to the facts.
The 11-year-old victim was found in a wooded area on the banks of the Vilaine River, which runs through the city's historic center. A wet bath towel appeared to be tied tightly around the child's neck. The lifeless body lay in a bush close to some apartment buildings. This was reported by the French news agency AFP.
A wet bath towel was tied very tightly around his neck. A 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were arrested in the case.
Fisherman raised alarm
The alarm was sounded on Sunday when a fisherman heard a child screaming at around 4:40 p.m. He had difficulty locating exactly where the screaming was coming from and notified the police. After all, according to the fisherman, it was not normal child screaming when at play. "Despite the call of the witnesses who discovered the body, the emergency services were unable to resuscitate the child," the prosecutor's office said on Monday at a press briefing.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Ouest-France, the child is believed to have died of a cardiac arrest due to strangulation.
The Rennes Department of Organized and Specialized Crime (DCOS) is in charge of the murder investigation and made a breakthrough on Tuesday night.
The main suspects, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, were seen with the victim at the scene on Sunday. Interrogations of the two suspects revealed that the boy had already gone fishing with 11-year-old Théo on Saturday. The two had agreed to go fishing again on Sunday. Only things got completely out of hand.
'Stealing back fishing equipment'
The 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl suspected of killing 11-year-old Théo have since admitted to investigators that they "wanted revenge." The two teenagers said they wanted to "steal back fishing equipment worth several dozen euros." This was reported by prosecutor Frédéric Teillet. They confessed to strangling the boy. They strangled him with a wet towel.
"The two suspects admit that they attacked and strangled the child," said the prosecutor. "They claim that they attacked him out of revenge and to recover bait worth several tens of euros that the victim allegedly took from them." However, Théo had told his parents that he had gotten the bait from the 16-year-old boy.
On Wednesday, the two main suspects will appear in court, which will determine possible indictment for manslaughter of a minor.
©jinzhe lan via Unsplash - illustration image of a child by a river