THREE-year-old Alex Velocci sat on his father’s lap in the driver’s seat of a car as it sped into an oncoming truck killing them both.
That was the shocking evidence given at Limerick Coroner’s Court on Tuesday when an inquest returned verdicts of death by suicide in the case of Marco Velocci (28) of Hillside View, Oola and death by unlawful killing in the case of his son.
Mr Velocci’s former partner Josephine ‘Jodie’ Power gave evidence of the tragic events of July 19 last and the days leading up to the murder suicide crash outside Oola.
She told of how she and Marco were childhood sweethearts before their on/off relationship saw the birth of baby Alex in 2013.
In a statement to Gardaí, she said that they parted as a couple but remained connected as they wanted to be good parents for Alex.
She had another child from another relationship and Marco had been dating mother-of-two Noelle Heffernan for two years.
However, he had told his mother that he still had feelings for Jodie and wanted to make a go of their relationship again.
Ms Power said that Marco had been acting strangely in the lead up to July 19. He was afraid that people were watching him and felt under threat from other forces.
He had panic attacks and appeared to be paranoid about the so-called Islamic State militant group (ISIS) and about Muslims taking over the world. A relative had recently converted to Islam and this heightened his concerns.
After long talks and periods of “ranting”, Marco agreed to see a doctor for a checkup.
Joan Velocci said that her son was always in good form but she had also noticed a change in his behaviour.
Marco, Alex, Jodie and her newborn son Patrick spent time together the day before on July 18 and witnesses stated that they looked “happy and normal”.
However, Ms Power said that on the following morning she saw that Marco had a “glazed look on his face”.
“It was like he was looking through me,” she said.
She also saw that he had a knife in his hand.
In the course of a struggle, she suffered a knife injury to her arm along with blows to her body and head.
As she recovered from the attack, she saw Marco leave with little Alex who was sitting on his lap in the driver’s seat as the car left Ms Power’s home.
She phoned 999 and only learned of what happened while she was being treated in hospital later that day.
Marco phoned Noelle Heffernan and told her that he had stabbed Jodie.
He then he drove his Audi estate car on the wrong side of the road and into the path of an oncoming truck and trailer.
Ms Heffernan said that she heard the bang as Marco’s car smashed into the truck and ended up in the ditch facing the opposite way.
Stephan Hehir, a truck driver for more than 40 years, said he could see Mr Velocci’s car coming over the white line just before it crashed into him at Brooks Bridge outside the village of Oola.
Witnesses said that the collision, which Mr Hehir could do nothing to avoid, was like an “explosion” that spread debris and a cloud of smoke around the road.
A motorcyclist who was travelling on the road to Limerick was narrowly missed by the out of control lorry as it careered towards the ditch.
Mr Hehir said that immediately after the impact he could see the motorbike coming and feared the worst.
The motorcyclist was uninjured and returned to help at the scene along with a number of motorists, including two nurses who were finishing night duty
The inquest heard distressing medical evidence which concluded that Alex and Marco Velocci died from multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a high speed crash.
The little boy was thrown from the car into a ditch and died instantly.
The jury returned verdicts of suicide in accordance with the medical evidence in relation to Mr Velocci, and death by unlawful killing in accordance with the medical evidence in respect of Alex.
Coroner John McNamara described it as a very difficult and harrowing case for the families and all involved.
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