FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fourteen-year-old Sofia Koval openly prayed in Broward County court Wednesday while waiting for her case to be called. Her father was also in court with help from a Ukrainian interpreter.
The teen stands accused of second-degree murder for allegedly beating her grandmother, Yevheniia Koval, 79, to death.
The judge ordered her to remain in secure detention.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies said the fatal beating happened Thursday inside a condo along the 4100 block of Northwest 41st Street in Lauderdale Lakes.
Koval was allegedly left home with her grandmother. That night, police say, Yevheniia Koval was found with multiple bruises on her body. She died from her injuries.
Cellphone video shows the police response outside the condo complex around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
An autopsy determined the victim’s cause of death was homicide. Sofia Koval’s father and son of the victim said his mother was a sweet woman who never hesitated to help others.
Neighbors described observing a normal relationship between the grandmother and granddaughter.
“It’s something out of character,” a neighbor said. “She’s been going through a lot because she wants her mom who is in the UK. She can’t get over here.”
There were no warning signs of the alleged violence to come.
Neighbor Desmond Silpatt said, “At this young age, now she’s gonna be incarcerated. Where is her future? What has she done and what was the reason to cause all of that to happen?”
Sofia Koval’s next court hearing is set for the morning of June 12. Prosecutors may choose to charge her as an adult.