Almost three months after the knife attack on two schoolgirls in Illerkirchberg, Baden-Württemberg, the Ulm public prosecutor’s office brought charges against the alleged perpetrator. As a spokesman said, the 27-year-old is accused of murder and attempted murder with dangerous bodily harm. The accused is said to have attacked the two because they happened to cross his path.
The asylum seeker from Eritrea is said to have insidiously attacked a 14-year-old and her 13-year-old friend on December 5. The 14-year-old died of her injuries, the 13-year-old was able to flee with serious injuries and had to be treated in a hospital for more than a week.
The public prosecutor assumes that the man was on his way to the district office of the Alb-Donau district that morning. There he tried to use a knife to force the immigration authorities to issue an identity document.
Did the man see the girls as unwelcome witnesses?
He is said to have put the knife in his jacket pocket when he left his home in Illerkirchberg to have it ready to hand in the district office. According to the investigation, the two schoolgirls walked past the house at that very moment. The 27-year-old assumed that they had discovered the knife.
According to prosecutors, the man spontaneously decided to kill the two girls. He wanted to prevent them from calling the police and thwarting his plan. First he is said to have greeted her and then attacked the 13-year-old. So she was able to escape. Finally, the man is said to have pushed the 14-year-old from behind and stabbed her several times. The girl died in the hospital.
According to the prosecutor, the man then went back to his apartment, where he cut himself. He also had to be treated in a clinic and is now in custody. According to the investigators, the suspect admitted to the killing of the 14-year-old and that he could no longer remember the attack on the 13-year-old.
Parents of the victims spoke out against hate speech
The attack made headlines nationwide. The parents of the two girls had called for the crime not to be used for hate speech. Many politicians agreed. But there was also criticism of German asylum policy. Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) spoke out in favor of deporting certain perpetrators.
At a civil dialogue in Illerkirchberg in mid-January, the father of the 14-year-old who was killed also spoke out. He and his wife wished that the scene of the crime would be redesigned so that nothing was left of it. His two other children would be afraid to walk past it.
The municipality complied with this request. At the most recent council meeting, the board decided to demolish the property, a spokeswoman for the community said. “The municipality bought the area with the view that it would have space for future inner-city development. The demolition of the building is therefore preferred.” Some of the residents were accommodated in other accommodations on the day of the crime. The municipality has no plans for the future use of the site.
