Police illustration.

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SYSPEO / SIPA

Kenzo's stepfather and mother, a 21-month-old boy who died from beatings and “acts of torture” on February 14, 2017, will be tried from Monday to Friday before the Hérault Assize Court.

Teddy M., 35, is accused of "murder", "torture or barbaric act" on a minor by a person in authority and recurrence of usual violence.

Angelina S., 23, will be judged for complicity in torture or barbarism on a minor by an ascendant, failure to denounce ill-treatment, deprivation, assault or sexual abuse, failure to denounce a crime, failure to assist anyone in danger and usual violence on a minor.

Fatal blows to the thorax

The couple were wandering, spending their nights in passing hotels or vehicles.

The young mother, her companion and the child seem to have escaped the radars of social services.

On February 14, 2017, help was called to Lunel (Hérault) by the couple who had staged a pseudo-aggression of the mother and the child, according to the investigators.

But on the spot, the firefighters fail to revive the little boy and observe on his body numerous injuries, blows, bites and burns from different times.

According to the results of the autopsy performed on Kenzo, born April 13, 2015, the child died of "fatal blows to the thorax which resulted in a significant hemorrhage which quickly caused death".

Deficiencies in identification and reporting

The mother said she was unable to intervene in the face of increasing violence from her partner on herself and the little boy.

The man denies the charges and blames Kenzo's death on his ex-girlfriend.

Several people and associations have become civil parties in this case, including Kenzo's father.

The association l'Enfant Bleu, civil party, denounced in a press release "the deficiencies of identification and reporting" in this case, pointing out the responsibilities of health professionals who had in particular treated the child for a serious burn and responsibility of the friendly and family circle.

“Once again - silence (…) reigned around this case of ultimate abuse that resulted in the death of a child”, deplores the association.

Teddy M. faces life imprisonment and Angélina Seine 20 years of criminal imprisonment.

The verdict is due on Friday October 30.

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