Modena, July 22, 2026 – Monica didn’t make it. More than two months after the attack on May 16 in Modena, Monica Esposito, 55 years old, died in the hospital bed where she fought until the end. She passed away after more than 60 days of hospitalization between the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna and the Baggiovara Hospital, where she had been transferred in recent weeks.
Read more In the bodycam footage, the key to Fakir’s death: “It shows he was resuscitated for a long time”
The suspect’s position
That afternoon Monica was with her husband Angelo on the sidewalk of Largo Porta Bologna when they were hit by the car driven by Salim El Koudri, the 31-year-old Moroccan who sped into pedestrians, causing a dramatic toll of eight injured. Now the suspect’s position is complicated: in the crime of massacre charged against the suspect, the murder constitutes an aggravating circumstance for which the young man risks life imprisonment.
Monica never regained consciousness
The patient, initially hospitalized in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the Maggiore Hospital of the Bologna Local Health Authority, had been transferred in recent weeks to the Intensive Care Unit at the Civil Hospital of Baggiovara, of the Modena Hospital-University Authority, where she died this morning. Her condition immediately appeared very serious and, despite all possible medical-surgical approaches being attempted, she never regained consciousness, until her condition irremediably worsened.
Organ donation authorized
The family, respecting the woman’s previously expressed wishes, gave favorable opinion for organ donation. The Managements, doctors and nursing staff of the Hospital-University Authority, Modena Local Health Authority and Bologna Local Health Authority wish to express their deepest condolences to the patient’s family.
Mayor Mezzetti: “Tragic news”
“Tragic news that we receive with immense sadness. My sincerest condolences go to her husband, who was also injured on May 16, to her daughters and son, to her brothers and sisters, and to all her family members. In this moment of pain, we must set aside all controversy and **the sense of human closeness must prevail** – states Mayor Mezzetti -. **This bereavement strengthens the demand for full justice against those responsible for this terrible attack.** We will continue to do everything we can to stand by the injured people and we confirm our commitment to represent, in the upcoming trial, a wounded community because Modena cannot and must not forget what happened. We stand with the community of Nonantola and Mayor Baccolini, who was also affected by this news. On the day of the funeral, our Municipalities will proclaim city mourning.”
Shock over the death of the 55-year-old
Shock in the small hamlet of Campazzo in Nonantola, with about four hundred inhabitants, where Monica and Angelo had moved a few years ago with their son, after purchasing their home in a peripheral area of the town. Despite leading a private life, the couple was known and respected by various residents. Those who know them describe a couple united even in work. Every morning Monica and Angelo would go together to the industrial area of Nonantola, where J.A.S. Elettromeccanica, the family business specializing in electric motor windings and industrial repairs, is located on Via Nicolò Copernico. A business built with dedication over the years, in which Monica played a dual role: collaborating manually and handling the bureaucratic management of the company. The company’s shutter has remained closed since the day of the accident.
Read more Bologna and the ghosts of 1977: still anger and frustration in the square
