Emma Teresa Meneghetti, an 82-year-old woman described by neighbors as a beloved fixture of her Milan community, was found murdered in her home on Wednesday, May 14. The alleged perpetrator is a 15-year-old boy of Dominican descent who used to live in the same apartment building and had long known the victim.
The attack occurred in the early afternoon, inside Meneghetti’s apartment on the third floor of a building at 46 Via Bernardino Verro, in the Morivione district. Authorities believe the incident began with a “futile” argument between the elderly woman and the boy.
The motive for the murder remains unclear.
According to initial findings reported by Milano Today, the teen struck Meneghetti in the head with a lamp during the quarrel, knocking her unconscious. He then allegedly strangled her. The alarm was raised around 4 p.m., when the boy returned home and confessed the killing to his mother, a 44-year-old Dominican woman.
Il Giorno reported how the boy’s clothes and shoes were stained with blood as he told his mother, “I wanted to run away from home, but she didn’t help me.” The mother immediately called emergency services.
Milanese police and forensic teams responded to the scene and cordoned off the apartment. Emergency medical responders from the Regional Emergency Urgency Agency (AREU) attempted resuscitation, but Meneghetti had already passed away.
The boy was taken into custody after being questioned for several hours by police and prosecutors from the juvenile court. He is now being held on suspicion of murder.
Authorities said the two families had lived in the same building until about a year ago, when the teen’s family moved to a different part of Milan. Despite the relocation, the boy apparently continued visiting Meneghetti’s home, which he had frequented since childhood.
Local media reported on a neighborhood in shock. One of Meneghetti’s current neighbors described her as “the point of reference for the neighborhood, not just for the building, because she was a very kind woman.”
The neighbor added, “She was 82 years old but looked 70, for her energy and strength.” She recalled seeing Meneghetti that very morning, as the elderly woman left early for her usual shopping trip. “It’s a quiet neighborhood. Even the apartment building is absolutely quiet.”