Voluntary murder, aggravated sexual violence and drug transfer to minors: with these accusations the judges of the III Court of Assizes of Rome sentenced two people to life imprisonment and to 27 years and 24 years and 6 months, the other two defendants, in relation to the murder of a 16-year-old from Cisterna di Latina, Desirée Mariottini, which took place on 19 October 2018 in Rome in an abandoned building in the San Lorenzo district, a reference point for drug dealers and consumers. The Nigerian Alinno Chima (27 years in prison), the Senegalese Mamadou Gara (life imprisonment), called Paco, the Ghanaian Yusef Salia (life imprisonment), and another Senegalese, Brian Minthe (24 years and 6 months). However, who returns to freedom, due to the expiry of the terms of pre-trial detention. “” I was expecting four life sentences, I am not satisfied with this sentence especially because one of the defendants returns free and this should not have happened. I did not have justice “, declared Barbara Mariottini, Desireè’s mother after the sentence.
The four drug dealers were accused of taking turns abusing the girl after making her take a mix of drugs that resulted in her death. Desirée, a naive and problematic teenager, had arrived in the capital to obtain drugs far from the country where the family lived: she remained for hours in a state of unconsciousness in the hands of her tormentors who also prevented her from being rescued, until her heart did not sold for overdose. Numerous witnesses in fact reported during the trial that Yusef Salia had threatened those who suggested contacting 118: “Better you dead than us in jail.” The investigations revealed that the defendants had assured the girl – in withdrawal – that the substance taken was nothing but methadone. In reality, the mixture taken by Desirée was made up of psychotropics who cut off any capacity for reaction. “The group acted with obstinacy, cruelty and ease”, showing a “very high danger and having had no hesitation in carrying out the rape and the murder,” wrote the investigating judge in the order of custody in prison. The DNA found under the nails and on Desirée’s clothes and the results of the autopsy framed the herd: the girl underwent “violent sexual intercourse”, the experts at Sapienza reported, and the injuries reported show that before ending up in the ogre’s den was still a virgin.
The stages of the story
18-19 October 2018: in the night the lifeless body of Desirée, abandoned on a cot with a blanket on it, is found inside the abandoned building in via dei Lucani, in San Lorenzo, Rome. A story of drugs, fragility and decay, which leaves the Romans dismayed.
25 October 2018: the policemen of the mobile squad of Rome and of the San Lorenzo police station stop two Senegalese, illegal in Italy: Mamadou Gara, 27, and Brian Minteh, 43. The two are held responsible, together with two other wanted people, for group sexual violence, the sale of drugs and voluntary homicide. The other two arrests are triggered in the following hours: Alinno Chima, 47, and Yusif Salia end up in handcuffs. Meanwhile, the outlines of the story are beginning to be outlined. The 16-year-old allegedly remained unconscious for several hours before dying: the girl was given drugs on the 18th afternoon and was abused while she was unconscious.
November 13, 2018: the Review Court drops the murder charge for Alinno Chima: according to the judge, the man allegedly raped Desirée but would not give her the drug.
April 15, 2019: the murder charge returns for Chima. For the Nigerian, the new precautionary measure comes after the results of the DNA test carried out on the 16-year-old’s body and on a series of findings. Human DNA was found on a bottle of methadone and on a straw also used by Desirée to smoke crack
June 21, 2019: the Public Prosecutor of Rome closes the investigations, conducted by the agents of the Mobile Squad and coordinated by the deputy prosecutor Maria Monteleone and by the prosecutor Stefano Pizza. Alinno Chima, Mamadou Gara, known as Paco, the Ghanaian Yusef Salia and the 43-year-old Senegalese Brian Minthe are accused of complicity in voluntary murder, group sexual violence and the transfer and administration of drugs to a minor.
READ: Desirée died because no one called 118
8 October 2019: at the preliminary hearing the Municipality of Rome, the Lazio Region, Telefono Rosa and the associations ‘Together with Marianna’ and ‘Dont’t worry- We can Onlus’ form a civil party. In an evidentiary incident, a witness reports that the defendants prevented them from calling for help to help the girl. The witness, who was inside the building in via dei Lucani, was called to confirm with an unrepeatable preliminary deed what had already been said in the course of the investigations to investigators and investigators, namely that he wanted to call the ambulance but was prevented by the suspects.
21 October 2019: just over a year after the death of the 16-year-old, the gup of Rome Clementina Forleo sends the 4 African citizens to trial: according to the accusation they would have abused the girl in turn after having made her take a mix of drugs that caused her death .