Isabelle Fouillot, Alexia Daval's mother, accompanied by her husband Jean-Pierre Fouillot, November 18, 2020. -

AFP

At the trial of Jonathann Daval, the victim's mother succeeded her father at the bar on Wednesday.

Isabelle Fouillot said she wanted to "defend the memory of her daughter", calling on the accused to be "a man" and to speak "the truth".

Alexia Daval was found dead on October 30, 2017 in a wood a few kilometers from the marital home of Gray-la-Ville (Haute-Saône).

“I'm here for Alexia, to defend her memory.

We miss her every day, ”she said at the helm, her voice broken with emotion.

Defense lawyers tried to instill the idea that "it was Alexia's fault", but "they did not know Alexia" who "was anything but overwhelming," continued Isabelle Fouillot.

"As nice as a devil"

She read a card written by her daughter to Jonathann Daval, in which she speaks of the accused as "an atypical being, as kind as a devil", causing him to burst into tears in his box.

"You represent my friend, my lover, my confidant (...) You are essential for me to keep my land going", wrote the young woman, whose lifeless body was found on October 30, 2017 in a wood of Haute-Saône .

Alexia's mother then addressed Jonathann: “You destroyed everything, this is where the lie leads”.

"Only you can tell it (the truth)", she continued, even though after all the reversals of the accused during the investigation, she is "afraid" that "every word that comes out of her mouth ( …) Or a lie ”.

"I would like, for once, you to be a man in your life and that you take your responsibilities", hammered Alexia's mother again.

"The child is you"

Referring to the possibility of a divorce or a separation possibly requested by Alexia, Isabelle Fouillot continued: “I think you didn't want to.

Because you were losing us, all the love that we had brought you ”.

And to assent about Alexia's thwarted desire for a child: "You didn't want a child, because the child is you."

Me Ornella Spatafora, one of the accused's lawyers sees "a couple where neither one nor the other admits that the relationship is doomed to failure".

Alexia's sister, Stephanie, 37, said her sister was "desperately alone".

Alone at the signing of the purchase of the couple's house, alone in their medically assisted procreation journey.

“As she feels alone, she sends texts.

She would provoke him to tell him: “Come home, I need you”, ”she confides.

Flight forward

"My personal feeling is that since the marriage, there is a headlong flight from the accused," she continued.

And even if we accept the figure of a “domineering” Alexia described by the defense, “does that give the right to beat, to massacre, to conceal, to lie?

No, otherwise we would excuse all domestic violence ”.

A heated exchange between Me Schwerdorffer, another lawyer for the accused, and Stéphanie Gay also focused on the enmity between the families of Alexia and that of Jonathann.

In the morning, Alexia's father had called for “the maximum sentence” against Jonathann Daval tried for “murder on a spouse” and who faces life imprisonment.

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