Exactly what happened last Thursday in Urmersbach, around 70 kilometers past the Luxembourg border, is still not definitively clear. What is known, however, is that in the village of 500 residents in the Cochem-Zell district, a three-year-old girl sustained severe head injuries from which she died shortly after in the hospital.
The incident occurred at the girl’s home, specifically in the garage, which had been converted into a fitness room. At the time, the 48-year-old neighbour – who had received permission from the girl’s father – was training there. The girl was only in the garage for a few minutes before sustaining serious head injuries.
Immediately after the fatal incident, the 48-year-old neighbour – with whom the girl’s father reportedly had a “good neighborly relationship” – went back to his house, according to the Koblenz prosecutor’s office. Police were still able to make contact with the man, but before they could intervene, he had taken his own life.
According to the preliminary autopsy report, the girl died from blunt force trauma to the head, possibly caused by contact with a dumbbell. Forensic medicine experts are now working to reconstruct the sequence of events, but results are not expected for several weeks.
Whether the child’s death was an accident or whether the neighbour intentionally killed her will need to be clarified through further investigation. Normally, investigations are closed when the suspect has died. However, in this case, the prosecutor has decided that clarifying the circumstances of the child’s death is in the public interest – and above all, in the interest of the family.
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