Home » News » TESTIMONY. A 9-year-old girl killed by her mother in Gironde, the father recounts the tragedy in a

TESTIMONY. A 9-year-old girl killed by her mother in Gironde, the father recounts the tragedy in a

“My parents were waiting for me in the living room. My father in tears took me in his arms and told me that Manon was dead. » This is how on March 9, 2015 Matthieu Portet learned that he would never see his child again and hear his laughter. She had just been killed by her mother in Barsac (Gironde) with a rifle. “She was a beautiful little girl with almond eyes, always smiling and a good student”, breathes the father that we were able to reach. A tragedy that he wanted to put on paper. He just published the book Manon, 9 years old for eternity that he wrote himself, spotted The Republican.

A deadly stroke of madness

The girl’s mother was tried in June 2019. The Assize Court concluded that the criminal irresponsibility of the 39-year-old woman. During her trial, the latter said that she discovered bloodstains in Manon’s panties. She then remembered having been abused by her father and said she wanted to kill him. “We met in a factory. We were handlers. We were together for three and a half years and she never told me about this rape”, says Matthieu Portet. The father has always denied the facts.

Determined to take revenge, the mother left her home in Saint-Michel-de-Castelnau, armed and accompanied by her granddaughter, on March 9, 2019 in the early morning. But she ran out of gas in Barsac at the edge of a secondary road. She tried to stop motorists and shot one of them without hitting him. Then a bullet hit Manon and a driver managed to disarm the mother. “I was able to read his testimony before the trial. He talks about blood everywhere […]. She (Manon Editor’s note) could not speak but blinked. » The mother fled on foot through the vines before being arrested.

“I try to forgive him”

In court, she assured that she never intended to kill her daughter. She always mentioned an accidental shooting. “She said that her discernment was abolished, says annoyed the 40-year-old Girondin. At the trial, I tried to seek her gaze to find her soul and the truth, but she avoided me. »

Since then, the man is still immersed in total incomprehension. “We separated when Manon was 1 year old. She was never violent towards her, describes Matthieu Portet. She smoked a lot of cannabis, she had bad relationships. She was trying to be a good mother. » Despite the years, the suffering is still just as intense. “I have pity for her and a little hatred. But I prefer to leave her where she is and move forward on my side. I try to forgive her and honor my daughter’s spirit. »

Don’t forget Manon

But forgiveness is difficult since Matthieu Portet thinks he met his ex-girlfriend on the side of a road. “She was to be interned but she lives 14 km from my home and has appointments in a psychiatric hospital. I thought she was going to be locked up. I wrote to the prosecutor about it who confirmed to me that she had moved in near my house”, he regrets.

Matthieu Portet is still trying to move forward hand in hand with his son, the young victim’s half-brother. At the time, he was only five years old. So that he does not forget his sister, the father has placed some photos of the little girl in the house he renovated with his hands. He speaks to her from time to time about her. In a few years he planned to give her the book Manon, 9 years old for eternity “so that he knows everything”. The book, edited by Matthieu Porte, is available on Amazon.

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