The man charged with killing a pedestrian was an ordinary young teenager who loved football and videogames before getting involved with drugs in his later teens, according to a former classmate of his who spoke to Times of Malta.

Jeremie Camilleri, 33, has been charged with killing 30-year-old Pelin Kaya, in a horrific incident in Gżira on Wednesday, which was captured on CCTV footage. Camilleri walked out of his car unscathed before proceeding to hurling stones at his victim in a crime which has shocked the country.

Camilleri, born in Toulouse to a Maltese-Algerian father and French mother, is believed to have moved to Malta from France as a young teenager following his parents’ separation. An only child, he lived with his mother in a house in Lija, a seemingly well-off and ordinary family.

He attended St Martin’s College, a private secondary school in Swatar, where he went by the name of Jeremie Garaud, his mother’s maiden last name.

His former friend recalls how he struggled to fit in, not knowing a word of Maltese and speaking English with a thick French accent. Despite this, they describe him as “a good kid” who enjoyed playing football and video games with his school friends, and who had a passion for the French football club Lyon.

A turning point in his life was an incident at school where he lost half of his middle finger after getting it trapped in a door. Classmates say that following this incident his demeanour changed and he grew distant from his friends, gradually becoming involved with people who would drive him to a life of crime.

Camilleri went on to attend sixth form at St Martin’s College, only to drop out before completing his studies. He became a bouncer at a club in Paceville and it is believed that at this point he became associated with alleged drug kingpin Jordan Azzopardi and developed a habit for crack cocaine.

A turning point in his life was an incident at school where he lost half of his middle finger after getting it trapped in a door

Camilleri’s first brush with the law came at the age of 23, when in 2012 he pleaded guilty to €900 worth of damages to a woman’s property and was handed a one-year suspended sentence. Camilleri was also involved in another incident last November, when somebody threw a small explosive device into his home through a window and then fled.

Just weeks ago, on January 4, he pleaded guilty to petty theft from health food stores in Sliema and Attard and breaching a probation order.

Lija residents who spoke to Times of Malta said Camilleri is notorious in the area, with neighbours saying they had seen him shouting and verbally abusing his mother in the street where the family resides.

Camilleri is believed to have obtained Maltese citizenship in 2011. Criminal proceedings issued by the courts earlier this year list Camilleri’s ID number as ending in L, which Identity Malta defines as “applicable to Maltese persons whose birth was registered after 2000”.

Recent videos, seemingly uploaded to YouTube by Camilleri himself, show him demonstrating his bodybuilding routine in rooms, sometimes littered with children’s toys. Camilleri is believed to have a young daughter.

Camilleri was charged in court last Thursday where he pleaded not guilty. He was sent to Mount Carmel Hospital to continue receiving psychiatric treatment.

Since Wednesday, social media has been rife with anger and messages of hate towards a man whose name is now associated with a disturbing act of violence.