A 14-year-old girl accused of killing her grandmother in Lauderdale Lakes after she allegedly said she struck the victim with a belt and helped her die will be charged as an adult, the Broward State Attorney's Office said Wednesday.
Sofia Koval now faces a manslaughter charge in the May 23 killing of 79-year-old Yevheniia Koval, instead of the second-degree murder charge that she previously faced, prosecutors said in a statement.
The alleged beating happened at an apartment in the Pearl Condominiums on Northwest 41st Street. Authorities responded there after receiving a call about an unresponsive woman. They met Koval's son, who said he'd gone to visit a friend from about 7 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. and left Koval with his 14-year-old daughter.
He said when he returned, he found Koval unresponsive on the floor with abrasions on her neck and bruising on her face, arms and legs, officials said.
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According to an arrest report, the teen told her dad that her grandmother had scratched her, and she "struck the victim several times with a belt" to defend herself. She then started crying, saying "she was sorry for what she had done."
Koval was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
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The Broward Medical Examiner's Office ruled Koval's death a homicide, and the teen was identified as a suspect and arrested.
In a redacted arrest report, the teenager allegedly told someone in Ukrainian that "the victim was already dying and that she had helped her die." That person advised that the Ukrainian word the teen used did not have a good translation to English, but that was what she was saying.
According to the teen's father, Sofia Koval had recently moved from Ukraine and was displaying "behavioral issues, which he believed are from the war she witnessed in Ukraine and her being separated from her mother," an arrest report states. He had taken her phone on the day of the killing to discipline her.
The arrest report goes on to say that after the killing, the teen was "very agitated and appeared aggressive at times. She was also constantly moving around. At this time it appeared that Sofia Koval was suffering from a possible psychotic episode." She was subsequently Baker Acted.
On her way to the Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center, Sofia Koval allegedly "made spontaneous utterances that she had killed her grandmother while her father was not at the residence" and "struck the partilion in the vehicle with her hand and caused a laceration."
A redacted source in the report said the teen had never been diagnosed with a mental illness, but had been showing signs of aggression and being agitated. She had also not been eating or sleeping.
The redacted source also believed that the teen may have used her grandmother's walker to hit her, because he noticed that a piece of the walker was broken.
Prosecutors formally filed the manslaughter charge against the teen on Tuesday, and she was moved from juvenile detention to the Broward County Jail where she will be held in protective custody, the state attorney's office said.
A judge found probable cause for manslaughter and ordered her held without bond on Wednesday morning.
Though the maximum sentence for manslaughter is 15 years in prison, if convicted, the teen could be sentenced to juvenile sanctions.
"In the juvenile system, anyone found guilty and sentenced would have to be released after a maximum of three years and could only be kept under supervision in the community until age 21," the state attorney's office said. "Because she is not a U.S. citizen, she could be subject to deportation."
In May, the victim's son described his mother off-camera as faithful, humble and protective of her family.
“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. 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,” State Attorney Harold F. Pryor said in a news release.
The Broward Sheriff's Office has been in contact with the Ukranian consulate on this case.
