A 14-year-old Ukrainian girl who recently moved to Florida is being charged as an adult in the brutal beating death of her 79-year-old grandmother.
The teen was charged with manslaughter on Tuesday and is currently in protective custody at Broward County Jail. The charges were announced by Broward County officials four months after the fatal beating.
Deputies responded to the crime scene on May 23 and found the grandmother unresponsive at her condo in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. Her belt and walker, which are both believed to have been used in the killing, were found nearby, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
The victim, who was pronounced dead at the hospital, suffered head trauma, extensive bruising and internal bleeding, an autopsy revealed. She also had contusions of the scalp, hemorrhaging on the scalp, and bleeding in her brain.
Koval’s father told investigators that the teen had been having behavioral issues, which he believed were from the war she witnessed in Ukraine and her being separated from her mother, according to the affidavit.
On the day of the killing, he took his daughter’s cell phone from her as punishment and left her alone with her grandmother. When he returned home after midnight, the woman was unresponsive. When he asked his daughter what happened, she responded 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 teen was in custody and later told investigators through a Ukrainian translator that her grandmother “was already dying and that she helped her die,” the affidavit said. She allegedly confessed to hitting her multiple times with a belt.
Because of her comments made while in custody and her behavior, which appeared to be agitated and aggressive at times, she was taken to a hospital for a behavioral health evaluation.
After Koval’s court appearance on Tuesday, she was transferred to Broward County Jail.
The maximum possible penalty for the offense is up to 15 years in prison but it is also possible that because of her age, if convicted, she could be sentenced to juvenile sanctions in the juvenile justice system, according to Law&Crime.
