Teenager Antonella Lopez killed in mafia-style shooting at Bahia Beach Club

“You have reached your uncle”, was written on the wall of Antonella Lopez, the 19-year-old girl who was shot dead last night in the Bahia Beach nightclub in Molfetta (Bari). The girl was the niece of Ivan Lopez, who was killed on September 29, 2021 in an ambush on the 9th of May waterfront in Bari, in the San Girolamo district. The crime was committed – according to the accusation – by men acting on behalf of the Capriati mafia clan of old Bari and the Parisi-Palermiti clan of the Japigia district, in conflict with the Strisciuglio clan, which had the upper hand in San Paolo and San Girolamo. Also injured in yesterday’s ambush was 20-year-old Eugenio Palermiti, an aspiring boss who belonged to the homonymous mafia family of Japigia. Antonella Lopez: Who is the victim of the murder on Bahia beach in Molfetta, killed by a fatal shot in the shoulder Antonella was hit by the shots fired in the nightclub. According to investigators, there were “numerous”. One of the bullets hit the victim in the shoulder, fatally wounding some blood vessels connected to the aorta. Several witnesses are being questioned by the authorities. “You were my favorite colleague, my sister, say hello to my father.” And again: “Fly as high as you can, you were a spectacle.” These are some of the condolence messages posted on social media in response to the 19-year-old’s last post, dated three days ago. The young victim’s social page also contains videos related to her uncle, Ivan Lopez. A year ago, Antonella had written a long message on her social wall to commemorate her uncle who was killed in the ambush in San Girolamo. “365 days that I haven’t seen you… 365 days that I haven’t heard your voice… 365 days that I haven’t seen those big blue eyes… 365 days that half of my heart is gone… I miss seeing you walk through the door, I miss hugging you, I miss hearing your voice, I miss arguing… 365 days that my life is not the same, every day I live with the hope of waking up and saying ‘it’s just a bad dream.’ You can’t even imagine how much strength it takes to face this life without you, without your advice. My heart, the void you left is immense, I still can’t believe it. Today we return to that terrible day that marked the lives of those who truly loved you… Never let go of my hand, I know you’re there!” Photos of Ivan Lopez appear alongside the post. The girl’s profile shows typical photos of a nineteen-year-old: selfies in the mirror, photos on the beach and a pain that has accompanied her for two years, for the loss of her uncle. Antonella Lopez murdered like her uncle Ivan Lopez The relationship of the 19-year-old victim to Ivan Lopez, the wounding of Eugenio Palermiti and the mafia-style methods of the ambush led the Bari DDA to take over the coordination of the Carabinieri investigations, initially entrusted to the Trani Public Prosecutor’s Office. For the murder of Ivan Lopez, Davide Lepore and Giovanni Didonna, aged 30 and 28, are on trial. The two are accused of multiple premeditated murder in conspiracy, with the mafia method as an aggravating circumstance. Ivan Lopez, 31, was killed with at least six gunshots while returning home on an electric scooter. According to the prosecutors, Lepore would have been the material executor of the murder, while Didonna would have helped to commit the crime by stealing an Alfa Romeo Giulietta and a Fiat 500 L about twenty days earlier, in Polignano a Mare, which were then actually used to reach the victim at his home. Antonella Lopez, like her uncle Ivan Lopez, killed in an ambush Lopez, according to investigators, would have been killed in retaliation for having carried out extortions together with his brother Francesco (now a collaborator of justice) against Lepore, owner of some garages in Bari and close to the Capriati clan of the old city (and previously to the Parisi-Palermiti clan). The Lopez brothers, on the other hand, were members of the Strisciuglio clan. According to the investigators, the murder took place in a context of “frictions and opposing gunfights, which began in the summer of 2021 between the Strisciuglio clan” and the Parisi-Palermiti clan of Japigia.