Shock after man beats migrant to death in street

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 1 - A judge in Macerata on Monday ordered that Filippo Claudio Giuseppe Ferlazzo, a man who has confessed to beating to death a Nigerian migrant in a street in a central Italian town last week, must remain in jail.
    The case has shocked the nation because of the brutality of the assault and the fact that several passers-by watched and some recorded the attack, but no one intervened to save Alika Ogorchukwu, a 39-year-old street hawker.
    Ferlazzo's lawyer, Roberta Bizzarri, said she told Monday's hearing that her client was cooperating with investigators, had apologized for what happened and had "clarified" that racism was not the motive.
    Investigators believe the attack, which took place on Friday in the centre of Civitanova Marche, broke out due to "futile motives", sources said.
    Indeed, Macerata prosecutors have charged Ferlazzo, 32, with homicide and robbery, as he also allegedly took Ogorchukwu's phone after killing him, but racism was not cited as an aggravating factor. There are reports that Ogorchukwu may have touched the arm of Ferlazzo's partner while begging for money.
    Ferlazzo had a history of mental health problems, which had led to his mother being assigned as his legal guardian by a court.
    "Why wasn't he being monitored even though he had a guardian?" said Francesco Mantella, the lawyer representing Ogorchukwu's family.
    Ogorchukwu leaves behind a wife and an eight-year-old son. He also provided for an 10-year-old girl who lived with his family but was not his daughter.
    "Apologies are not enough," Ogorchukwu's family said via the lawyer.
    "What is needed now is justice, not vendetta.
    "It's difficult to understand what happened".
    Patrick Guobadia of the Nigerians in Italy association said that "if it had been two Italians, things would have turned out differently - someone would have intervened to separate them".
    The local council has set up a fund of 15,000 euros to help the victim's family. (ANSA).