Florence remembers Lorena: 'We must not get used to these tragedies'

Florence gathered outside Lorena Isceri’s home with flowers, candles and a message from the city: “We must not get used to these tragedies.” More than 1,000 people attended the vigil, held at the building where the 45-year-old woman lived before her death.

The event, called “Together for Lorena Isceri,” was organized by Florence Mayor Sara Funaro after Isceri’s father appealed for political unity against violence against women. The crowd stood in silence and emotion as Isceri’s mother came outside, protected by a cordon of police officers. She met Funaro and the parents of Michela Noli, who was killed by her former husband in Florence in 2016.

“

You can feel the affection, thank you all.

A long applause greeted Isceri’s mother. “You can feel the affection, thank you all,” she said before returning home a few minutes later. Flowers, candles, banners and handwritten notes were left at the entrance to the building.

“

We must not and cannot get used to these tragedies, nor accept that they are reduced to a matter of fate.

Funaro said the killing had shaken the entire city and warned against treating femicide as an unavoidable event. “The risk we face in our country, given how many femicides there are, is normalization,” she said, calling for prevention policies so that such crimes do not happen again. She said the vigil was intended to bring Florence together around Isceri’s family and described the death as a wound for the city and the country.

Investigators are continuing to examine the case. Prosecutor Antonio Natale is due to assign the autopsy work, which will seek to establish whether Isceri was dead or alive when Federico Vella allegedly caused her to fall from the viaduct, and whether he had taken a substance or used psychiatric medication. Investigators believe the act may have been premeditated.

“

The risk we face in our country, given how many femicides there are, is normalization.