Overview
- On Thursday the court published its written motivations that upheld a 24-year-and-3-month sentence for Petrolini for the premeditated killing of the child born on August 7, 2024 and buried in the family garden.
- The judges said Petrolini acted "with lucidity and determination" and listed a series of omissions they say show she planned to conceal the pregnancy and cause the newborn’s death.
- The court accepted the prosecution’s account that the baby died after the umbilical cord was cut without proper clampage and that no aid was given after birth.
- Petrolini was acquitted of the alleged killing of a first child born May 12, 2023 because prolonged burial and decomposition prevented medico-legal proof that the infant was born alive.
- The ruling rejects the defense claim of denial of pregnancy and raises broader legal questions about when courts may infer intent from behavior and online searches when forensic evidence is lost.