Warning: Please proceed with caution as the article contains details of the death of a young teenager.
Five days after 11-year-old Louise Lasalle was found dead, her parents finally know why they lost their child in such a cruel way — all because a man, too angry and already called “violent” in the complaint his younger sister filed against him, lost a game and needed an outlet to “calm down.”
Louise was reported missing by her parents on Feb. 7, 2024, after she didn’t return home from school. Based on the CCTV footage the police found, the Bois des Templiers (a wooded area near her school) was highlighted as her last location. Heartbreaking news soon followed as her body was discovered in the town of Epinay-sur-Orge (in Esonne, 16 miles south of Paris) on Feb. 8.
Investigators soon found their suspect, a 23-year-old French man named Owen L, who had confessed that he killed Louise after he flew into a rage when he lost a game of Fortnite, as per The Times. As per the outlet, the suspect already has a police record for petty crime, is unemployed, lives with his parents, and devoted most of his time to playing video games. During one such game on Feb. 7, he lost and was unable to digest the loss or the fact that another player insulted him. So, in his “very angry” state, he stopped playing and stepped outside to cool down his temper.
As reported by French television network TF1, his initial plan was to “rob or extort money from someone to calm down.” But “accidentally,” he came across Louise and instead decided to follow her. The public prosecutor shared how he lured Louise by spinning a lie about losing something in the nearby woods.
“When they reached a quiet spot, he told her he was going to search her things to steal money, while threatening her with a knife. She started screaming. Panicked, he pushed her to the ground and stabbed her.”
In his state of panic and rage, he stabbed her multiple times. There was no evidence of sexual assault. Further investigations have revealed that Louise wasn’t the first schoolgirl he lured into the woods — there was another schoolgirl before her, but she refused to accompany him. TF1 reports that his 19-year-old sister had filed a complaint against him, back in April 2023, describing him as “violent” and “aggressive.”
The reports add that he confessed to killing Louise to his girlfriend before he got rid of the evidence — the knife and the clothes he was wearing at the time. Since his girlfriend remained silent after the shocking confession and failed to report the murder, she has also been charged, though she revealed to the investigators that her boyfriend can “get angry very quickly.”
Epinay-sur-Orge mayor, Olivier Marchau, shared his heartfelt condolences for Louise’s family via a Facebook post.
“No words are strong enough to express our sadness and dislike at such an incomprehensible act. Louise was a joyful young girl who just wanted to live her teenage life. My deepest thoughts go out to [her] family, relatives and friends.”
Further investigations into the case are still pending.
Published: Feb 14, 2025 03:16 pm