A BOY has died after his mother allegedly slit his throat with a large kitchen knife in their Italy home amid an eight-year custody dispute.
Police in Trieste named the nine-year-old as Giovanni, whose mother, 55-year-old Ukrainian national Olena Stasiuk, reportedly killed him earlier this week.
Officers stormed the Muggia apartment after Giovanni’s father, Paolo Trame, raised the alarm when he lost contact with the pair.
Inside, cops found the boy dead on the bathroom floor, believed to have been dead for several hours.
Stasiuk was taken into custody and is under investigation for aggravated voluntary manslaughter.
Italian outlet Corriere della Sera reported that Stasiuk had long been monitored by courts and mental health services.
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The killing came during what was said to be one of the first unprotected visits she’d had with her son after years of supervised contact following the couple’s 2017 separation.
Court documents and reports cited by Corriere della Sera show Giovanni had previously expressed fear of being alone with his mother.
In one exchange with professionals, he reportedly said: “I’m sad when I go to my mom… Because I’m scared.”
When asked why, he added: “She was strangling me,” later describing how “Mom grabbed me by the neck, squeezing it with both hands.”
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The boy is said to have repeated similar concerns to a psychologist writing a report for the custody case.
Though he reportedly told the psychologist it was his “dream” for his parents to reunite, he added that being left alone with his mother might not be “a good idea.”
His father had given him a smartwatch to use in emergencies, but it was not activated on the night he died.
At a memorial service in Muggia, Paolo reportedly told mourners: “That child was my whole life.”
One of Giovanni’s friends, Pietro, left a note next to a drawing of a sailboat “because I knew you liked it so much.”
Another message, written by a friend’s father, read: “Thank you for being my son’s friend. Forgive us for not saving you. Forgive us.”
According to Corriere della Sera, Stasiuk had been treated for mental health issues in the past, including compulsory treatment and care for schizophrenia.
Reports indicate that previous warnings from Giovanni’s father about her being “dangerous” were documented, along with earlier allegations – including a reported attempt to strangle the child – that were dismissed by prosecutors as potentially accidental.
Authorities are now examining how an unprotected meeting was allowed despite the family’s long and troubled history.
The Justice Ministry is expected to review the court decisions that enabled the visit.
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Stasiuk is currently under guard in a local hospital.
A court-ordered psychiatric evaluation will determine whether she will remain in custody due to the risk of absconding.
