A dramatic news story that arrived yesterday from Pedrengo, in the province of Bergamo, caused a sensation. A 27-year-old mother has ended up in prison accused of killing her two newborn children, a 4-month-old girl and a 2-month-old boy. The investigation was started by the suspect born after the death of his eldest son, which occurred on 25 October 2022: just a year had passed since the disappearance of his 4-month-old sister, Alice, a death classified as cot death caused by regurgitation. In both cases, at the time of the tragedy the young mother was alone at home with the children and had called for help, who arrived when there was nothing left to do.
An unlikely coincidence for investigators. The autopsy on the little body led to the decision to exhume the first girl’s body: hence the decision to accuse the woman of double infanticide. This is Monia Bortolotti, known to all as Mia. Born in India on May 17, 1996, she was the last orphan of Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be adopted in Italy by a family from Gazzaniga. Her parents who raised her are Laura Brena, 63 years old, with whom she would have a difficult relationship, and Pietro, who hosted her recently.
Relations with her partner Cristian Zorzi, 52 years old, ended after the autopsy ordered on their second son, Mattia, who died at two months old. Before her pregnancy, Mia was a dance teacher, but she had left everything and moved to Pedrengo to stay with the father of her children.
The woman on social media, in a post dated October 13, wrote: “And the Prosecutor’s Office blames me, as if this whole tragedy was wanted, wanted. Nobody cares that my children were looked after and held like little flowers, perfect. No one cares how desperately I was trying to be the mom I never had.” On August 3 he published a photo in which he was holding Mattia and Alice in his arms, and wrote: “Day and night I continue to ask myself how it happened and whether it is really possible to survive this pain, because children shouldn’t be anywhere, if not in the arms of mom and dad.”
And again on August 20, Monia Bortolotti wrote: “Dear mothers and fathers, I lost my first baby in the crib, suffocated by regurgitation. It’s my fault for putting her to sleep on her side on her very soft pillows. And the second, born the following year, left most likely crushed by me while I fell asleep while breastfeeding him. When I woke up he was still alive, but not for long. The fault is still mine because, to avoid the same tragedy that happened to his little sister, I held him in my arms day and night, disguising my fears so as not to disturb anyone.” In short, an accident, according to his version, ultimately absolving himself: “Why adopted? Why adopted by a harmful and unaffectionate mother? Who knows…”, she says of herself.
In some posts, the 27-year-old also spoke about the difficult relationship with her partner Christian, with whom she broke up when the medical examiner’s advice on Mattia’s body arrived: “It is in these tragic situations of extreme pain that a couple should become even closer, for love! But when love never was, then it never will be.”
The investigations
According to initial reconstructions, the newborns were suffocated by their mother in their home in Pedrengo. Furthermore, the woman may have already tried to kill Mattia on another occasion, when the baby had only been born a month ago. In September 2022, writes the Corriere di Bergamo, Mia Bortolotti called her partner to tell him that little Mattia was no longer breathing and was cyanotic. A déjà-vu of horror for the man, who had already seen little Alice die the year before. Luckily in that case the doctors managed to save him. The macabre hypothesis is that Monia killed the child by suffocating him, holding him in her arms, while she would have used a pillow with her daughter. The reason? “He couldn’t stand crying.”
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