Nine young men including a minor have been charged over the death of a young French boy, a collateral victim of drug trafficking in the southern city of Nimes, a prosecutor said Saturday.
Two days after the death in August of the 10-year-old identified only as Fayed, an 18-year-old was killed during a drug deal.
The teen is believed to be the initial target on the evening that Fayed died, said Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone.
Eight men aged between 18 and 30 have been remanded in custody while a 17-year-old has been placed under judicial supervision, he said.
Eight of them deny the charges, according to BFM TV.
The suspects were identified largely thanks to fingerprints on the cartridge cases found on the ground following the shootings, reported France Info website.
"The young Fayed and his family had nothing to do with drug trafficking and are obviously collateral victims, perhaps a mistake in targeting due to the make of the car they were in," Bessone said.
The boy was killed late in the evening of 21 August in a Nimes neighbourhood when his uncle's car came under fire in a turf war between drug gangs.
The investigation is also turning to the nearby Mediterranean city of Marseille, with evidence suggesting the drug dealing hotspot in Nimes is backed by the "DZ Mafia", the main gang operating in Marseille, the prosecutor said.
On a visit to Nimes in late August following the deaths, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced a series of measures for the town, notably a special 60-person riot police, extra judicial police officers to speed up investigations, and a local interministerial investigation service to specifically probe the laundering of drug traffic money.
(with newswires)
