An 83-year-old woman was killed in Milan on Sunday after a 70-year-old neighbour jumped from a fourth-floor balcony in an apparent suicide attempt and struck her in the courtyard below, authorities said. The man survived and has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The incident occurred at about 6 p.m. on September 14 on Via Fratelli di Dio in the Baggio district. Emergency teams who arrived at the scene found the elderly woman, identified by local media as Francesca Manno, unresponsive. Attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. The man was taken to Niguarda Hospital with multiple leg fractures and described by hospital staff as in critical but not life-threatening condition.
Carabinieri investigators from the Mobile Radio Unit and the San Cristoforo station, led by Commander Paolo Franchina, reconstructed the events and determined the two people were not related and were not a couple, as was initially assumed. Investigators say the man climbed over his balcony and threw himself from the fourth floor, landing on the woman in the courtyard below. Prosecutors charged him with manslaughter after determining the death was an unintended consequence of his suicide attempt.
Authorities secured the scene and questioned witnesses as they pieced together the sequence of events. Local emergency responders performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the woman but were unable to revive her. The man received treatment for his injuries at Niguarda Hospital; no further details about his identity or motive were released by investigators.
The case will proceed through the Italian judicial process. Charging an individual with involuntary manslaughter follows a preliminary finding that the death resulted from the defendant’s actions without the requisite intent to kill, prosecutors said in similar past cases. Investigators will continue to examine witness statements and any available surveillance footage to complete their report for the public prosecutor.
Neighbors described an emotional atmosphere in the tight-knit Baggio neighbourhood after Sunday’s events. Local authorities urged anyone with relevant information or footage of the incident to come forward to assist the ongoing investigation. No additional arrests have been reported.