France: 18-year sentence sought for teen accused of killing school monitor

Prosecutors have requested an 18-year prison sentence for a teenager accused of murdering a school monitor in the French department of Haute-Marne. The incident occurred on June 10, 2025, when Mélanie, a 31-year-old educational assistant at Françoise-Dolto college in Nogent, was fatally stabbed outside the school.

The accused, who was 14 at the time of the attack and is now 15, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison because he is a minor. The prosecution also requested a 10-year period of socio-judicial supervision. The Chaumont prosecutor's office has asked the children's court not to consider diminished responsibility for the defendant at the time of the events.

The trial, which began Wednesday in Chaumont and is being held behind closed doors, is expected to conclude Friday. The defendant has been in pre-trial detention for 13 months. The attack occurred in front of numerous witnesses during an unexpected search of students' bags by gendarmes aimed at finding weapons.

Investigators learned that the defendant had no specific grievance against Mélanie but intended to target any female monitor. He reportedly conceived the plan days earlier after being reprimanded for kissing his girlfriend on school grounds. The prosecutor noted that the adolescent "appears to have lost his bearings regarding the value of human life, to which he does not seem to attach particular importance."

This murder, occurring amidst a series of knife attacks in schools, deeply impacted France, particularly within political and educational circles. The court is expected to deliver its verdict on Thursday.

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appears to have lost his bearings regarding the value of human life, to which he does not seem to attach particular importance