Children Aged 11–13 Behind Fatal Milan Hit-and-Run in Stolen Vehicle
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Milan municipal police have identified and detained four minors who were inside a stolen car that fatally struck 71-year-old Cecilia De Astis on Monday in Via Saponaro, in the Gratosoglio district. The victim was walking when she was hit.
The suspects — three boys and one girl — are all under the age of 14 and therefore not criminally liable under Italian law. The alleged driver, a 13-year-old boy, was accompanied by an 11-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, and a 12-year-old boy. Two of the minors are siblings. All were born in Italy to families of Bosnian Roma origin.
The group fled the scene on foot immediately after the collision, abandoning the vehicle. Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators on Monday had already suggested that the occupants were very young. Using these images, which clearly captured the suspects’ faces, police traced them to an illegal Roma encampment in the area.
The car involved — a Citroën — had been reported stolen the previous night from a group of French tourists. Milan prosecutor Enrico Pavone has opened a case for vehicular homicide aggravated by failure to render assistance, a charge that ordinarily carries mandatory arrest when committed in flagrante delicto.
While no criminal charges can be brought against the minors themselves due to their age, the investigation will focus on the theft of the vehicle, the fatal incident, and the circumstances that enabled children to be behind the wheel.
