A 14-year-old girl is accused of beating her grandmother to death after her grandmother took away her phone.
She was seen praying nervously in a Florida courtroom just before her first appearance before a judge.
Sofia Koval, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 79-year-old Yevheniia Koval.
The deadly attack happened on the night of May 23 when the schoolgirl was left alone at her condo in Lauderdale Lakes with her grandmother.
Authorities said the elderly victim’s bruised and beaten body was found by her son, Vladimir Koval, who is the teen’s father, when he came home just after midnight.
Vladimir told authorities that his daughter had recently moved to the US from Ukraine and had reportedly been acting out.
He said he had taken away Sofia’s cellphone to discipline her just hours before the alleged attack.
Sofia allegedly told her dad that her grandmother had scratched her, and she beat her up in self-defense.
Her grandmother was declared dead after first responders took her to a nearby hospital.
Investigators said the victim’s granddaughter was later taken into custody after a medical examiner determined the death was a homicide.
Shocked neighbors said the teen had been having a hard time recently because her mom was still in Ukraine.
One neighbor said, “It’s out of character for her. She’s been struggling because she misses her mom and can’t get here.”
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge the girl as an adult.
The judge has ordered that Koval be held in secure detention until her next court hearing.
[Source]
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