Suspect Arrested in Fatal Montpellier Hit-and-Run, Family Seeks Justice for Teen Victim

A week after the teenager’s funeral, his family sees a glimmer of hope. "It’s a great relief because we now know that he has been arrested and that justice will be done, that he will be punished, that he will receive, I hope, a sentence commensurate with what he has done," says Saïd, Aymen’s brother. He knows that the arrest will not bring his brother back, but it will allow the family to mourn.

"It’s not a question of revenge, simply that justice be done, even if it’s not by arresting him that it’s going to bring our little one back."

The arrested man hit the young boy on the night of December 15 in circumstances that the ongoing investigation will have to elucidate. Marc Gallix, the family’s lawyer, remains confident about the outcome of the trial. "Aymen was coming out of the snack bar where he had watched the match between Morocco and France when he was hit and crushed. He was not part of the group that had surrounded the vehicle," the lawyer said.

Aymen’s family says it places its "trust in the institutions of the Republic, police, justice" and calls on all those who feel outraged by the tragedy to "appeasement", "prayer" and "recollection".