The Valence prosecutor's office has requested that eleven people be sent to trial for the homicide of a teenager, Thomas, during a dance in Crépol (Drôme) in November 2023.

A new legal twist in this case that sparked a wave of emotion. The Valence prosecutor's office has requested that eleven people be tried for the homicide of Thomas, who was killed at the age of 16 at a dance in Crépol (Drôme) in November 2023, according to a source close to the case.

The prosecutor's office had sent its final requests to the judges in charge of the investigation on Thursday in the investigation into the highly publicized death of Thomas Perotto, a 16-year-old high school student stabbed in confusing circumstances.

Fourteen men, some of whom were minors at the time of the events, have been charged with "voluntary homicide" and "attempted voluntary homicide as part of an organized group." All deny having delivered the fatal blow.

The Valence prosecutor's office declined to comment at this stage but promised to release a statement of its indictment once all parties have received it. The defense and the civil parties will then be able to submit their observations. The investigating judges, who completed their investigation in mid-May, will then have to issue an indictment order, either following or rejecting these recommendations.

From bladed weapons to the "winter ball"

On the night of November 18-19, 2023, young people, some from the working-class neighborhoods of Romans-sur-Isère, clashed with a group of young people from Crépol at the end of the village's "winter ball".

In a confused context, the first group had pulled out knives and seriously injured four people, including Thomas Perotto, a rugby enthusiast, who died during his transport to the hospital.

A virtual reconstruction was held between September 22nd and October 1st. At its conclusion, Denis Dreyfus, the lawyer for the organizing committee of the evening and for some forty civil parties, noted the "code of silence of this entire group of young people who do not want to speak".

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In an interview with Ici Drôme Ardèche in early June, prosecutor Laurent de Caigny had mentioned "strategies of confiscation of speech between the various defendants", which make "very difficult to be able to present (...) a linear account of this terrible night".