14-year-old Girl Allegedly Attacks Grandmother With Belt, Charged With Manslaughter in Florida

Authorities in Florida have charged a 14-year-old with manslaughter in connection with her grandmother’s beating death in May.

Yevheniia Koval, 79, was discovered unresponsive in a Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., house early on May 23, with “multiple bruises” on her body, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Police detained Koval’s 14-year-old granddaughter as a suspect in the woman’s death, which was determined to be a homicide, according to the sheriff’s office.

Broward County investigators identified the juvenile as Sofia Koval, and she is now being prosecuted as an adult with manslaughter.

“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 after the charge was filed on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Sofia’s father told authorities on May 23 that he left the adolescent with his mother at home to go see a friend and returned to find the elderly woman motionless, according to the sheriff’s office. She was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.

According to an arrest complaint, Sofia allegedly attacked her grandma with a belt and the elderly woman’s walker, as reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, WSVN, and NBC Miami.

According to an arrest report obtained by NBC Miami and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sofia told her father that she attacked her grandma in self-defense.

According to the arrest record, she told him she “struck the victim several times with a belt,” according to NBC Miami. Sofia then began crying and apologizing for what she had supposedly done.

According to the arrest complaint, she allegedly told her father that she “helped” the elderly woman die because she was already dying.

Sofia recently moved to Florida from Ukraine, where she witnessed the ongoing violence, according to her father’s affidavit. He claimed she had “behavioral issues” after seeing the conflict and being separated from her mother.

According to the arrest record reported by PEOPLE and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sofia’s father took away her phone to chastise her on the day of the murder.

If convicted, Sofia may face up to 15 years in prison, but she could also face the juvenile penalty, which is three years in a juvenile correction institution, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. If convicted, she might be deported after serving her sentence, according to the publications.

Sofia is being detained without a bond. Online court records did not display any plea information, and a lawyer named in her file did not immediately