Giogiò's mother: "No more community, at 14 you have to go to prison"

Daniela Di Maggio, the mother of Giovanbattista Cutolo, the young Neapolitan musician killed for trivial reasons in August 2023, has made a strong proposal.

Since then, the woman has never stopped fighting for legality and for longer sentences for minors who use weapons, touring Italy in memory of her son, who was killed at the age of 24.

The latest incident that brought Giogiò's photo back to the front pages of newspapers involved Arcangelo Correra, killed at 18 by his 19-year-old cousin while handling a gun.

Episodes like that force us to reflect on the difference between rehabilitative prison and recreational prison. If I release a young man who has already committed serious crimes after taking a pizza-making course or after feasting his eyes on the beach at Nisida, I haven't developed a conscience, and I shouldn't be surprised if he kills again.

It's the prison system and the laws that need to be reflected upon. The seventeen-year-old killer from Santo Romano was released from prison in May: in his case too, instead of giving us a little angel, prison released a criminal.

This morning, the children of the Pinetamare Community School of Castelvolturno marched in Qualiano, assembled in the orchestra named after their son, Giogiò. "A year ago," recalls Daniela Di Maggio, "I prophesied that we would all die at the hands of armed children.

This is why I asked for and succeeded in introducing the crime of stesa, precisely because these boys continually leave prison and continue to kill and shed blood. This is why the boundary between rehabilitative prison and recreational prison must be well understood.

The killer of my Giogiò He had been put to the test. Once it was over, he killed. That's why I proposed abolishing the probation."

Meanwhile, the discussion has made progress and today there is talk of lowering the age of punishment for minors: "I've been shouting about it for a year: I went to Andrea Ostellari, Undersecretary of Justice.

I brought two neuropsychiatric reports showing that today's children have a much more advanced cognitive age than when the Mattarella law on minors was passed. Today, 12-year-olds drive cars; we can no longer enforce those laws.

At 14, the prison doors must be opened, no more probation communities. Parents must be made to pay a price and parental authority must be taken away when necessary.

If I see kids walking around wearing 1000 euro Gucci shoes, I have to ask myself a question as a parent, and instead they give poisoned bottles to kids who end up killing the children of respectable Italy.

It is no longer acceptable - concludes Giogiò's mother - this way only monsters are created".