Dans cette maison, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau à Montblanc, personne n’a vu mourir de faim Amandine. DR – Midi Libre
Jean-Michel Cros, accused of deprivation of care resulting in death and who faces 30 years in prison, was questioned this Thursday, January 23, before the Assize Court of Hérault. For years, from 2016 to 2021, he did what his partner asked him to do without flinching until Amandine's death.
“You know that your answers are not enough”, insists Me Grégoire Mercier who defends the interests of Jean-Michel Cros. He is doing everything to get his client to give explanations on the events that led to Amandine's death. “My goal was to satisfy her [Sandrine]. She kept repeating things to the point that they became truths.” A few moments earlier, it was Me François Bermond, who also defends the interests of the accused, who asked. “What is your vision of the couple? You talked to each other? You had a normal relationship?” “I don't know, we functioned like a couple who had lived together for 60 years”, he replied. “Is that normal?” “No!” Jean-Michel Cros has been speaking in court for almost two hours.
“I don't know how I couldn't react”
Jean-Michel Cros can't find the words to tell how his evil couple let a 14-year-old child starve to death. “I acknowledge the facts, but I don't know how I couldn't react. I was leaving for work, I was coming home, I was drinking and I didn't see anything. I thought she was going out. I never imagined that she was there.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000While this man is described by everyone as someone loving, kind, and naive, he let it happen, under his roof, without saying anything. To avoid any conflict with his partner! However, he had the courage to separate from Sandrine Pissarra, Amandine's mother, for a few months. But he came back with her. “I felt sorry for the children so she came back. I put her away in my house.”
A Vision of Horror
President Eric Emmanuélidis wants answers. He has two photographs of Amandine posted in his closet. The first shows the unfortunate girl in a fetal position, face down, knees on a tube. Naked. Skeletal. A vision of terror. Then another. The teenager is standing, leaning, as best she can, on what looks like a piece of furniture. Still naked. A second vision of horror. It's a shock for everyone. The president starts again. “How do you explain her condition? How do you explain not seeing anything. Not doing anything. There, look!” Amandine is imprisoned, without eating or drinking in a closet. “We've always been repeating the same thing, so I believe her [Sandrine]. I've made everything I've been told a reality.” The president reminds him that if he had reacted, even the day before, Amandine could have been saved.
“We had a love affair with Amandine”
Jean-Michel Cros, his voice tight, answers. “I don't know. I heard what the expert said. I blame myself for not having acted. I love him, I still talk to him. I ask God every day to take my life and give it back to him. I don't understand how we got to this point. We had a love affair with Amandine.” However, when he gave Amandine cardiac massage on August 6, he couldn't help but see. “I didn't believe she wasn't eating. I must have seen it, and I didn't understand. Or didn't want to understand. I missed a lot of things. Yes, today I understand that children lived in a dangerous environment. So yes, I belong here. I deserve it.”
Then on August 6, 2020, everything accelerated. Amandine, at the end of her rope, stopped living. Jean-Michel Cros didn't choose to leave his partner despite the tragedy. He went on vacation with Amandine's mother to Corsica at the beginning of September. “It was nice. It went well.” They were both arrested in May 2021.
I subscribe to read the rest