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The murder of 11-year-old Louise has shaken France, as the prime suspect confesses to the crime amid growing concerns over child safety.
This photograph shows flowers and a picture of Louise, a dead eleven-year-old pupil in front of the Andre Maurois secondary school in Epinay-sur-Orge, southern of Paris, on February 8, 2025. An 11-year-old child was found dead in a wood in the night of February 7, 2025, after having disappeared outside her secondary school in Epinay-sur-Orge (Essonne) and an investigation into the murder of a minor has been opened, Evry public prosecutor Gregoire Dulin told AFP. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
The prime suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old French schoolgirl, who was found in woods with multiple stab wounds after going missing, has confessed to the crime, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
In a killing that shocked France, body of the girl, named as Louise, was found on Saturday close to her school. She had been missing since leaving school, in the suburban town of Epinay-sur-Orge about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Paris, on Friday afternoon.
French police on Monday arrested a man aged 23 and his DNA was found on Louise’s hands, according to prosecutors.
“The main suspect admitted to the charges against him while in custody,” public prosecutor Gregoire Dulin said in a statement.
The man’s parents and girlfriend, 23, had also been detained on suspicion of failing to report a crime, prosecutors said.
The suspect’s motives remained unclear.
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On Saturday, Dulin said that “there is no evidence to suggest that sexual violence was committed.”
French media described the suspect as a “video game addict.”
Le Parisien daily pointed to “the possibility of a sadistic act”. Although he was not known to suffer from psychiatric disorders, the suspect could be “very violent” and was known to have repeatedly beat his younger sister, the newspaper added.
The killing comes at a time when law and order, and in particular crime against children, are major issues in French politics and society. Speaking Wednesday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed “deepest sympathy” to Louise’s family.
The hardline minister has vowed to tighten law and order in France.
“The whole establishment is in shock,” Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said Tuesday.
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Flowers and candles have been placed in front of the Andre Maurois school that Louise attended, as well as at the foot of a tree where the body was found.
A woman, who provided only her first name, Josephine, said she felt “upset all weekend.”
“I wasn’t well, it made me think of my granddaughter and my grandson,” she said in the town where the body was found on Tuesday. “We’re not at peace anywhere.”
“As soon as I was told about it, I said it’s the little girl with long hair,” she added.
A psychological support unit has been set up in Epinay-sur-Orge.
– By: © Agence France-Presse
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