The investigation into the death of Prada manager Chiara Jaconis has been reopened two years after she was allegedly killed when a 13-year-old boy threw a statue from a balcony. Her mother says the family is “still waiting for justice.”
Jaconis, 30, suffered fatal injuries after the object struck her head while she was on vacation in Naples, Italy, in September 2024.
An Italian court ordered the case reopened Thursday as investigators continue working to establish exactly how Jaconis died. No one has been convicted in connection with her death, La Repubblica reported.
Judges at Italy’s Juvenile Court of Appeals have ordered a ballistics examination to determine which type of statuette may have struck and killed Jaconis.
The decision followed investigators’ discovery that two statuettes fell from a height on the day of the incident: a 4.85-pound figure of Pharaoh Akhenaten and a 10-pound bust of Queen Nefertiti.
Authorities have not been able to determine which of the two objects hit Jaconis as she celebrated her 30th birthday in Naples.
The second anniversary of Jaconis’ death came this week, but her mother, Cristina Venturi, remains determined to find answers.
“Two years have passed and we are still waiting for justice,” Venturi told Il Gazettino. “We are calling for accountability and for Chiara to receive the justice she deserves.”
“No verdict can bring Chiara back to us, but justice is the only thing left for us to ask for.”
Venturi also posted a throwback photograph of her daughter online, writing: “Two years without you… without your smiles [and] without your gestures.”
Jaconis, who was from Padua, was walking through Naples’ Spanish Quarters with her boyfriend, Livio Rousseau, and pulling her luggage toward the airport when the object fell about 32 feet and struck her.
Police investigating the death said the statuette had been pushed from a third-floor balcony by a 13-year-old boy. Because of his age, however, he was not held criminally responsible under Italian law.
In Italy, children younger than 14 cannot be held criminally responsible for an offense.
The boy’s parents have been charged with manslaughter after prosecutors alleged that they failed to properly supervise him.
Prosecutors said the parents had “failed to strengthen the locks,” allowing their son access to the balcony.
They were also accused of failing to take suitable safety measures despite allegedly knowing that the boy had a habit of throwing objects.
According to prosecutors, the boy had previously thrown tablets, an air-conditioning remote control and clothespins from a height.
The boy’s parents have consistently and strongly denied any wrongdoing.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Jaconis joined Prada in October 2022 and managed 15 stores across France, Monaco and Belgium.
Before joining Prada, she worked in Paris for L’Oréal, Givenchy and Christian Louboutin.
