Caserta – Almost thirteen years after the murder of Emanuel Of Caterino, the 14-year-old boy stabbed to death on April 7, 2013, in Aversa, his family still awaits the final verdict. Tomorrow, the eighth trial for that murder, which shocked the Caserta community, will take place before the Court of Appeal of the Juvenile Court of Naples.
In the dock is Agostino Veneziano, a 17-year-old teenager at the time of the events, now a 29-year-old man, completely free. This information weighs heavily on the heart of Amalia Iorio, Emanuele's mother, who has been fighting for justice for over a decade:
"I can't bear to hear my son's name mentioned in courtrooms anymore. I wish he could rest in peace. And yet his killer is still free," she denounces, her voice breaking with exhaustion.
The woman has never stopped championing a battle that is not just personal: "I am disappointed and saddened," she says, "but I continue to fight so that other parents who have lost a child can obtain justice within a reasonable timeframe.
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The judicial process has been tortuous, with convictions, annulments, and postponements that have multiplied the number of trials without ever reaching a definitive conclusion.
The first trial took place in 2014, using a fast-track procedure, and resulted in a 15-year prison sentence handed down by a single judge in the Juvenile Court. This sentence was overturned shortly thereafter by the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the trial should be held before a panel of judges.
From there a sequence of verdicts and reversals: sentence of 8 years in the first instance, then increased to 10 years on appeal, then annulled by the Supreme Courtin early 2023. In the same year, in a new trial, Veneziano was sentenced again to 8 years, but in May 2024 the Supreme Court once again sent the case back to another section of the Naples Juvenile Appeals Court.
Tomorrow will be the eighth hearing, with hopes that a verdict will finally be reached that will put an end to this never-ending legal process. But the fear, according to the mother, is that everything could start all over again, with a ninth trial.
Comments (1)
It's truly sad to see how justice fails to take its course; it seems there's always a problem reaching a conclusion. Emanuele's mother deserves to know the truth and get justice for her son; it's unfair.