Rome (CNN) — A coldblooded, point-blank killing this month in southern Italy has a nation grieving — for a 3-year-old child.
Nicola “Coco” Campolongo was shot in the head along with his grandfather, Giuseppe Iannicelli, and his grandfather’s 27-year-old companion — victims of an apparent mob hit over money.
Their bodies were found January 19 in a burned-out Fiat Punto on the outskirts of Cosenza, in southern Italy’s Calabria region. Iannicelli, who was serving a drug-related sentence on house arrest, appeared to be the target of the hit.
“In all my years investigating organized crime murders, none has been as horrific as this one,” lead prosecutor Franco Giacomantonio told CNN. “It is unimaginable that a child can be made to pay for the crimes of his parents.”
