Femicide in Rome, Italy: Life Sentence for Ex-Boyfriend of Student

The Court of Assizes in Rome, Italy, sentenced a young man to life in prison on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for the femicide of his ex-girlfriend. The defendant, Mark Antony S., had confessed to killing the student Ilaria S. in March 2025. The ruling was handed down in the first instance.

The Third Court of Assizes, presided over by Antonella Capri, thus granted the request of the prosecution. The decision came after three hours of deliberation. S. was not present for the verdict in the bunker courtroom of Rebibbia prison.

Father: "He is still breathing, my daughter is not"

Relatives and friends of the victim followed the announcement in the courtroom, along with a group of students from Rome's Sapienza University, where the young woman had studied.

"Justice has been done, but the real punishment is for us, my wife and me. He is still breathing, my daughter is not," the father said after the verdict was read out. He said he had always believed in justice and had not been abandoned.

Crime in Rome's African Quarter

According to the prosecution's reconstruction, the young woman was stabbed to death on March 25, 2025, in the defendant's apartment on Via Homs in the capital's so-called African Quarter. The body was reportedly then hidden in a suitcase and thrown into a ravine in the Capranica Prenestina area east of Rome.

S. was charged with premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances and with concealment of a corpse. As requested by the prosecution, the court recognized the aggravating factors of premeditation, base motives and the relationship with the victim. The analysis of mobile phones reportedly supported investigators on the charge of premeditation, including messages from the defendant to a friend. The written reasoning for the verdict is still pending.

Prosecutor: "Not a crime of passion"

The prosecution was represented by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Cascini and prosecutor Maria Perna. "This was not a crime of passion," Perna said in her rebuttal. S. had never shown remorse for his act and remained convinced that the young woman deserved this fate, she said. He had never told the truth and had lied repeatedly so as not to have to admit premeditation.

The defense, by contrast, had asked that the aggravating factors of premeditation, base motives and the emotional relationship be excluded and that mitigating circumstances be recognized. The trial began on Nov. 12, 2025. In Italian assize courts, professional judges decide together with lay judges.

The defendant's mother had already agreed in November 2025, in a separate proceeding, to a two-year suspended sentence for aiding in the concealment of the corpse.