The case has agitated German public opinion for months: the murder of little Joel, six years old, in September 2023 in Pragsdorf (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) by a teenager aged fourteen at the time of the events. On May 2, after three months of trial, the Neubrandenburg regional court sentenced the young man, now aged fifteen, to seven years and nine months in prison, reports, among others, the regional daily Nordkurier.
The trial shed light on several hitherto unknown points, such as how the events unfolded. According to judge Daniela Lieschke, “This is a spontaneous and insidious act.” A look back at this affair which sowed fear across the Rhine.
The facts date back to September 14, 2023 when Joel and Geri K. allegedly played on a football field in Pragsdorf, a village of 580 inhabitants, in the northeast of Germany. They apparently decided to hide in a bush near the field. The teenager allegedly smoked a cigarette there, before offering one to the child. After that, boredom would quickly set in.
It was at this moment that they came up with the idea of organizing a freediving competition. The concept is simple: whoever holds their breath the longest wins. Judge Daniela Lieschke specifies that they would have played a variation which consists of strangling each other’s necks. It was Joel who started it. What was supposed to be a game would have quickly turned into a tragedy: Joel would have lost consciousness. Out of fear, the teenager immediately let go of the child’s neck, allowing him to regain his senses. “I hate you!” Joel reportedly shouted. The teenager suddenly became afraid that those around him would learn what he had just done. He allegedly asphyxiated the 6-year-old child again until he lost consciousness before stabbing him several times with a knife. He then immediately fled.
Joel was found in the bush around 9:15 p.m. by firefighters. It was too late to save him. DNA traces on the knife allowed investigators to identify a suspect in the murder of little Joel. The latter was arrested on September 26, as reported by Bild. On April 4, Geri K. admitted to killing Joel.
During the months that followed, the German press regularly covered the teenager’s trial, revealing more and more information about him. According to the daily Bild, he was known in the village for his aggressiveness. Joel’s parents also knew the attacker’s family very well, reports Nordkurier. The teenager played with Joel regularly and always took him home. He was even said to be friends with the little boy’s sister.
Faced with the judgment rendered, the parents said they were “relieved” and wanted to spend the day where Joel was killed: “That’s where we are going to celebrate Joel’s birthday. For us, he never left, he is always in our hearts,” said the little boy’s mother.