French prosecutors indict 32-year-old man for assassination of TikTok influencer Sonia Bellina
A 32-year-old man tracked by an electronic monitoring bracelet was charged on Friday in Nîmes with the assassination of 29-year-old influencer Sonia Bellina.
Discovery and identification in Saint-Gilles
Agricultural workers discovered the partially carbonized and unclothed body of a woman on 12 August 2026 in vineyards located in Saint-Gilles, a village 20 kilometres from Nîmes in the Gard department. Investigators cordoned off the area to collect forensic evidence, while the victim's family reported her disappearance after she failed to return home from an evening outing. Formal identification occurred on 19 August 2026 through DNA testing, confirming the deceased was 29-year-old Sonia Bellina. Bellina was known publicly as a content creator on TikTok, where she posted choreographies and lip-sync videos for more than 250,000 followers.
Electronic monitoring and arrest
Judicial police from the Nîmes research section launched a homicide inquiry and arrested two men on 19 August 2026. Investigators released the first suspect on 20 August 2026 after clearing him of involvement, but prolonged the detention of the second individual. The remaining suspect, a 32-year-old man residing in Gard, holds a criminal record dating back to 2010 with prior convictions for violent conduct and narcotics trafficking. In December 2023, the Lille criminal court sentenced him for domestic violence against an ex-partner who lives 800 kilometres away. Under the terms of that sentence and probation supervision, authorities fitted him with an anti-proximity electronic monitoring bracelet. Geolocation data recorded by the bracelet placed the suspect in the immediate vicinity of the Saint-Gilles vineyards during the timeframe of the crime.
- Lille criminal court sentences the suspect for domestic violence and orders electronic bracelet monitoring
- Body of Sonia Bellina is found partially burned in vineyards near Saint-Gilles
- DNA tests confirm the victim's identity and police arrest two suspects
- Police release one detained man while keeping the 32-year-old suspect in custody
- Examining magistrate indicts the 32-year-old suspect for assassination and orders pre-trial detention
Interrogation and indictment for assassination
The 32-year-old suspect appeared before an examining magistrate on 21 August 2026 at the conclusion of his 48-hour police custody. Prosecutors formally indicted him on charges of assassination, a classification denoting premeditated murder under French law, and placed him in pre-trial detention. During questioning, the suspect admitted that he had two paid sexual encounters with Bellina, one on the night preceding the crime and one on the night she was killed. He denied murdering the 29-year-old woman and invoked his legal right to silence, refusing to provide further explanations regarding her death. Nîmes public prosecutor Cécile Gensac outlined the findings connecting the suspect to the victim.
Nothing established any relationship between them other than a paid one.
Cyberharassment and legal response
The public identification of the victim prompted abusive comments and misogynistic harassment across several social media platforms. Internet users targeted Bellina's physical appearance and past TikTok videos, prompting her relatives to request that media outlets circulate a specific smiling photograph to represent her memory. Mourad Battikh, the lawyer representing the Bellina family, reported the offensive online commentary to the French government's Pharos platform for illicit digital content. Battikh announced plans to file formal criminal complaints on behalf of the family to hold the authors of the abusive messages accountable.
