SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – In gut-wrenching video clips still sending shockwaves throughout South Florida, police say Sunny Isles Beach mother Yulia Storozhuk was caught on a neighbor’s doorbell camera throwing and kicking her defenseless 3-year-old son.
Local 10 News has learned that police responded to Storozhuk’s home after the abuse had taken place, but before her neighbor saw the video clips and reported them to police. They left the boy in her custody.
The videos were taken Monday at around 9 and 9:45 p.m. respectively, according to an arrest report. Then, according to an incident report obtained Thursday, Storozhuk called police just after midnight after an apparent mental breakdown.
The 29-year-old single mother told them she had been “going through various emotions over the past few weeks” and it had been “hard for her to make a living and work” while also having responsibility for her child.
A friend would later tell police he was concerned for her and the child’s safety after Storozhuk said she wanted to “give up the child for the night,” police wrote in the incident report. He was apparently unaware of the abuse or did not report it to authorities.
The report states that, after the police arrived, she informed the officers that she “felt better,” did not want to harm herself or others and did not want to give up her child.
Officers subsequently left the boy in Storozhuk’s custody, as they did not observe any obvious signs of abuse, just hours after the attack — which, at that point, they weren’t aware of, a law enforcement source told Local 10 News.
Police contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families and the agency responded by saying there was not enough concerning information to send a representative.
Police said they would only become aware of the video clips later on Tuesday, after a neighbor saw them and reported them to authorities, prompting a new investigation and officers to arrest Storozhuk after reviewing the footage.
“This is a tragedy. We did everything we could do. We responded,” a source within the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department told Local 10 News Thursday evening. “There were no obvious signs of trauma and we contacted DCF.”
An officer would later observe redness and bruising on the 3-year-old, as well as scratches on his stomach and back, after authorities began investigating Tuesday following the neighbor’s report.
Outpouring of support, outrage after video released
Following her arrest and Wednesday’s release of the disturbing videos, police say they’ve been inundated with callers offering to help the boy after he was placed into the custody of the DCF.
“(It’s) just people calling from the bottom of their hearts asking, ‘How is he doing? Is he OK?’ and offering to take him in,” Sgt. Melissa Porro, a spokesperson for the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, said Thursday.
Storozhuk faced two child abuse charges for Monday’s brutal beating at her condominium in the 17000 block of North Bay Road.
Veteran police officers who saw the video told Local 10 News that the cruelty displayed brought tears to their eyes.
Storozhuk reportedly told police she became violent because her son “wasn’t listening.”
Local 10 News spoke to her neighbors Thursday.
“I saw that video online and, first of all it’s horrific, but second, I recognized the inside of the building,” one resident said. “It makes me emotional. It’s terrible.”
Sunny Isles Beach’s mayor even weighed in in a post to the city’s account on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Mayor Larisa Svechin called the video “disturbing” and commended officers for “acting swiftly.”
“Their immediate attention may have saved the life of a small child,” Svechin said. “May we all remember that it is important that if you see see something, say something.”
Message from Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Larisa Svechin. pic.twitter.com/1YX1eloJSx
— City of Sunny Isles Beach (@CityofSIB) November 2, 2023
Storozhuk, originally from Ukraine, told a judge through a Russian translator Wednesday that she and her son came to South Florida to escape the ongoing war with Russia. She said she loved her son and said it was her first time she had ever done anything like this.
“I can’t live without him,” she said of her son.
But for now, she will have to. The judge ordered her to have no contact with her son.
Bonding out of jail Wednesday night and asked by Local 10 News’ Samiar Nefzi if she had anything to say to her son, Storozhuk said, “I’m so sorry. I won’t do this anymore.”
In tears, she was driven away from the jail in an SUV.
Police said the case is no longer in their hands and the DCF will decide where the young boy is placed.