John Jefferson
Left: Sofia Koval (Broward County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Sofia Koval in court (WPLG).
A 14-year-old Ukrainian girl has been charged as an adult in the death of her frail 80-year-old grandmother, allegedly beaten with a belt and walker in a condo in Florida.
Sofia Koval faces a manslaughter charge in the death of Yevheniia Koval, prosecutors said. A judge found probable cause and ordered the girl on Wednesday to be held in custody at the Broward County Jail without bond, the Broward State Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.
“Because of the heinous nature of the crime and after considering everything presented by the defense so far, I believe it is appropriate that this case should be handled in adult court,” Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor said in the press release. “We are considering all options and working closely with her attorneys at the Broward Public Defender’s Office to come up with an appropriate resolution that holds her accountable but also factors in her age and the circumstances of this offense.”
According to an affidavit outlining the allegations, the case came to light when Broward County Sheriff’s deputies responded at about 12:30 a.m. on May 23 to a death investigation at a condo in Lauderdale Lakes. There, the victim’s son told deputies he found his mother unresponsive, lying on the floor in the living room, court documents said. The woman was taken to a hospital, where she died. She suffered from about 15 abrasions to her neck and face, had bruises on her hands, arms and leg and hemorrhaging to the right side of her neck and arms, an autopsy later found. She also had contusions of the scalp, hemorrhaging on the scalp, and bleeding in her brain, the affidavit said.
The son told investigators he lived there with his mother and daughter, who recently moved to the U.S. from Ukraine. He said his daughter had been having behavioral issues, which he believed were from the war she witnessed in Ukraine and her being separated from her mother, the affidavit said.
He said he took her cellphone away from her earlier to discipline her before he left the home at 7 p.m., leaving his daughter and the victim alone in the apartment. He said that when he returned home at 12:30 a.m., he saw his unresponsive mother and called authorities, the document said.
When he asked his daughter what happened, she allegedly told her father that her grandmother had scratched her, the affidavit said.
“As a result, she had to defend herself,” the document said. “Sofia Koval told her father that she struck the victim several times with a belt. Sofia Koval started crying and said she was sorry for what she had done.”
The victim depended on assistance from a walker. In the affidavit, authorities noted that a wheel on the walker was broken and said they believed the girl may have used the walker to strike her grandmother. Deputies also said they found a belt next to the victim’s body.
In custody, Sofia Koval allegedly said through a Ukrainian translator that her grandmother “was already dying and that she helped her die,” the affidavit said.
The document noted the teen had been agitated, appeared aggressive at times, and appeared she was suffering from a possible psychotic episode. Authorities also noted that she had not been eating or sleeping.
Based on her statements and that she might have been harmful to others and herself, she was taken to a hospital for a behavioral health evaluation.
While Sofia Koval was being transported, she made spontaneous utterances that she had killed her grandmother while her father was not home and, at one point, struck the partition in the vehicle with her hand, causing a laceration, the document said.
The maximum possible penalty for the offense is up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said, adding that because of her age, she could be sentenced to juvenile sanctions in the juvenile justice system if she’s convicted.
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