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Florida authorities have charged a 14-year-old teen with manslaughter for the death of her grandmother.
PEOPLE reports that Broward County deputies found 79-year-old Yevheniia Koval unresponsive with multiple bruises in a Lauderdale Lakes home on May 23.
Subsequently, the sheriff’s office announced they arrested Yevheniia Koval’s 14-year-old granddaughter for murdering her, which officials ruled a homicide.
Now, Broward County authorities have charged 14-year-old Sofia Koval with manslaughter, according to PEOPLE. She has reportedly been charged as an adult.
Sofia’s father told police he left his daughter with his mother on May 23 to visit a friend, only to return and find his mother unresponsive with abrasions on her neck and bruises on her face, legs, and arms.
Yevheniia was later rushed to Broward Health Medical, where she was pronounced dead.
Per WSVN, an arrest report stated that Sofia told her father she attacked her grandmother in self-defense.
NBC Miami stated that Sofia Koval allegedly told her dad she “struck her grandmother several times with a belt.” She confessed that she believed she “helped” the elderly woman die because she was “already dying.”
PEOPLE reveals that Sofia’s father said she recently moved to Florida from Ukraine, where she saw the ongoing war. He also mentioned her “behavioral issues” due to the conflict and separation from her mother.
PEOPLE confirms that if convicted, Sofia could face a maximum of 15 years in prison. However, the outlet adds that she could also serve a juvenile penalty of three years in a correction facility.
At this time, Sofia Koval reportedly remains in custody without bond.
