Jean-Baptiste Watel, a 92-year-old man violently attacked by a drug addict in the Porte de la Villette district in early September in Paris, died on Tuesday, the Fdesouche news outlet reported, and the victim’s son is blaming French President Emmanuel Macron’s government and its weak response to criminality.
“My father died on Tuesday,” announced his son Jérome Watel on the set of “Face à Baba” on C8, this Thursday, during a special broadcast in the presence of the Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
“He died of his injuries and could not absorb the shock. I have never cried so much in my life, I have never cried before, and there I cried all my tears for a month and a half,” continued Jérome before questioning the French interior minister.
“Why did you leave us to live in fear of crime? Having to fear taking your children out, of accompanying them to the subway. Having the fear of getting stabbed. My father died, why?” Jérome asked.
The victim’s son recounted the ultra-violent attack suffered by his father, Jean-Baptiste, 92, on Sept. 9 in Porte de la Villette. Jean-Baptise was followed to their home, before being repeatedly beaten and stripped by a drug addict, according to French news outlet BFMTV.
When crossing the first access gate to his son’s residence, Jean-Baptiste was paying no attention to the crack addict standing next to the elevators. Once in front of the second airlock to the villas, the nonagenarian did not notice that this transgender woman rushed behind him and followed him discreetly, about 20 meters behind. Arriving in front of his building, Jean-Baptiste entered the patio, then the hall, and his assailant followed.
The attacker said that she got rid of the wallet, which was never found. She also acknowledged being the owner of two items of clothing found at the scene of the attack.
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On Sept. 19, this 24-year-old transgender suspect was presented to an examining magistrate and indicted the same day for “counts of drug use and theft with violence,” said the Paris prosecutor’s office. She was immediately placed in pre-trial detention. The attacker had not noticed the CCTV cameras in front of the building.
When the victim’s son filed a complaint on behalf of his father on Sept. 12, investigators from the local reception and investigation service in the 19th arrondissement took over the file, analyzed the recorded videos, and derived a description of the individual.
The individual was recognizable by her “feminine” gait, which deceived the nonagenarian, who was convinced that his assailant was a woman. Three days later, a pedestrian patrol arrested the attacker, who was in possession of crack at the time.
