Palermo murder of Kitim Ceesay in Ballarò: investigating gambling debts

A matter of gambling, linked to unpaid debts. This is one of the leads being followed by the police of the Oreto-Stazione precinct for the murder of Kitim Ceesay, the 24-year-old Gambian who died at Civico Hospital after days of agony following a stabbing in the Ballarò neighborhood. The young man had a pregnant wife and a small child.

The Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation for murder, ordering the seizure of medical records and the body, which has been transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine for autopsy. His death occurred two days ago on a hospital bed. But the events date back to March 5th.

As reported in the Giornale di Sicilia today, in its reconstruction, Kitim was at Porta Sant’Agata and was visibly bleeding from the chest from a wound inflicted by a cutting weapon, perhaps a box cutter. According to some neighborhood gossip, however, the boy was intentionally run over by a car on Corso Tukory and only then wounded.

Kitim had gone to the emergency room at Civico Hospital and was admitted. The doctors, as usual, reported the incident to the police, but according to law enforcement, the young man remained silent. Days went by and nothing was heard of Kitim. The news of his injury on that yet-to-be-clarified evening only emerged yesterday, along with news of his death.

A difficult life for Kitim. The young man was suffering from a series of serious illnesses: he was HIV positive, had tuberculosis, and his kidney function was compromised, leading to dialysis. A very difficult clinical picture, despite his young age. Kitim showed no signs of improvement until his death, despite treatment.

In addition to the gambling debt lead, it is not excluded that the stabbing may have occurred in the context of drug trafficking. The autopsy will shed light on many unanswered questions. The killing of Kitim Ceesay is currently at the center of a series of meetings that the foreign community in the Ballarò neighborhood has organized at the Santa Chiara complex.