The 9-year-old Seal-Evan had begged his brother to stop beating him: the 26-year-old man, accused on appeal in Besançon on Wednesday, had attacked the child who died in Mulhouse in 2018 after several hours of violence. to “punish” him for not doing his homework.
• Also read: France: Actress Judith Godrèche filed a complaint against Benoît Jacquot for raping a minor
• Also read: A huge 3D weapon manufacturing network has been dismantled, a first in France
The bearded Dylan Owana Bodo seems particularly annoyed that in the first moments of this trial at the Doubs Assize Court of Appeal he finds himself in the defendant's box, chewing gum, sighing several times and shouting to the respondents.
“I am innocent,” he tells the court with confidence, justifying his appeal against his first-instance conviction against a sentence of 15 years of criminal freedom imposed by the Haut-Rhein jury court in February 2023.
He is charged with “intentional violence against a 15-year-old minor, resulting in death without intent to cause it.” He admits to having committed violence against his little brother, but believes that they are not responsible for the death of this cheerful and enthusiastic child who excelled on the football fields.
The autopsy of the victim's body was unable to determine the exact cause of death, but experts believe it was the result of “several hours of violence.” The child was clearly suffocating from inhaling the contents of his stomach while unconscious.
Belt shots
During the investigation, the defendant, who himself grew up in a climate of violence in which corporal punishment was the norm, “repeatedly said he wanted to punish him and not kill him,” said an investigator.
On September 16, 2018, at the family apartment in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin), the older brother called his mother, who had gone to Paris, to tell her that Seal-Evan had not done his homework. She tells him to “deal with it” and “beat up” his brother.
The activities reserved in the family for “great stupidities” rain down. The broomstick breaks into three pieces on his body.
“I don’t want to die,” the child pleads under the beating, begging his brother to stop. His big sister also beats him. His other 11-year-old brother and the eldest's partner, who was seven months pregnant, witnessed the incident.
The correction session, partially filmed by the nurse, lasts from late afternoon to midnight before Seal-Evan loses consciousness.
Forewarned, the mother asks a former partner, the only paternal figure among the siblings, to come to the home. He is devastated to discover that the child is unconscious. He called the emergency services and tried in vain to revive the boy: “Lord, Lord, bring him back to me.” Evan, stay with us,” he repeats again and again on the Samu recording.
Siblings left to their own devices
A “brother pact” devised by the sister is then sealed to hide the violence that preceded the little brother’s death. The siblings claim he felt unwell while lying in bed.
But the police investigation, the traces of beatings and the statement of his eleven-year-old brother, with whom Seal-Evan had a close relationship and who was also a victim of violence, enable the investigators to understand how the evening unfolded.
During their trial in the first instance, Dylan Owana Bodo and his 25-year-old sister were sentenced to 15 and 6 years in prison respectively for “deliberate violence against a 15-year-old minor resulting in death without intent to cause it.” . Only the older brother appealed the decision.
The abandoned mother of these siblings, who was constantly absent and, according to her brother, “traveled a lot because she wanted to publish an album of songs,” was sentenced to four years in prison for “complicity in intentional violence.” Ultimately, the defendant's ex-girlfriend received a three-year suspended sentence for “failure to prevent a crime.”
The verdict from the Doubs jury court is expected on Friday.