Naples: Gennaro De Martino sentenced to 12 years in prison for the shooting that killed Emanuele Tufano.

Naples – Twelve years in prison for attempted aggravated murder, four fewer than the prosecution had requested. Thus, with the sentence handed down at the end of the summary trial, the first judicial chapter in one of the darkest youth Camorra feuds of recent years comes to a close. Gennaro De Martino, represented by attorney Emilio Coppola, is on trial: the only adult and, according to the Anti-Mafia Commission, the leader of the Piazza Mercato "paranza."

The Naples Anti-Mafia Directorate, through Deputy Prosecutor Celeste Carrano, initially charged him with the aggravating circumstances of futile motives and mafia-related practices (some of which were rejected at the hearing) and requested a 16-year sentence. The judge also awarded a provisional sentence to the family of fifteen-year-old Emanuele Tufano, who joined the civil action. But behind the cold court documents lies a story of violence, escapes, and tragic mistaken identities.

The escape and the fiery night of 2024

The story begins on October 24, 2024. Gennaro De Martino—the son of a well-known criminal killed in August 2021 during the bloody Ponticelli feud—had recently escaped from the Airola juvenile prison. His escape was brief, but long enough for him to be involved in a violent firefight in the heart of Naples.

On one side, his group, a criminal arm of Piazza Mercato; on the other, the rival faction from the Rione Sanità district, led, according to investigators, by Cristian Scarallo. It was during this night of madness that 15-year-old Emanuele Tufano, linked to the Sanità group and related to the leaders of the Sequino clan, lost his life.

The tragic truth: "friendly fire"

For a long time, it was believed that Tufano had been killed by rivals in Piazza Mercato. However, investigations by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate have overturned the crime scene, revealing a chilling background: the fifteen-year-old was killed by so-called "friendly fire."

Tufano was, in fact, hit by a single, fatal bullet fired by his own faction during a planned stesa (an armed raid intended to intimidate) against De Martino's group. A deflected bullet, or simply misdirected in the heat of the attack, ended the boy's life at the hands of his own comrades.

The scapegoat and the trail of blood

In the ruthless logic of organized crime, such a serious mistake could not go unpunished, much less be admitted before the Sequino clan's leadership. A culprit had to be found. This ruthless pursuit of internal justification resulted, months later, in a new crime. Emanuele Durante, murdered in March 2025, paid the price of "friendly fire." Falsely labeled a traitor to cover up the tragic ballistics error of the Sanità fishing fleet, Durante became the collateral victim of a vendetta built on a lie.