14-year-old girl sentenced after beating her grandmother to death in South Florida

Sofia Koval, a 14-year-old girl charged in the fatal beating of her grandmother in May in South Florida, was sentenced to a maximum-risk rehabilitation program for up to 36 months, a Broward County judicial assistant confirmed Wednesday.

Her sentence went into effect immediately, according to Broward County court records.

After serving the maximum sentence in the program, Koval will be under community supervision until age 21, although she is expected to be transferred to federal custody for deportation to her native country of Ukraine since she is not a U.S. citizen, South Florida prosecutors said.

The teenager was originally charged as an adult with involuntary manslaughter and was transferred to the North Broward Office on Oct. 2. On that date, during a hearing, a judge found probable cause and ordered her detention without bail without contest from the defense or prosecution.

The original incident occurred on May 23 at a Lauderdale Lakes condominium. Koval’s grandmother was then 76 years old. According to an arrest report, the teen told her father that her grandmother had scratched her and that she “hit the victim several times with a belt” to defend herself.

She then began to cry and said she was “sorry for what she had done.”

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office at the time, the grandmother, Yevheniia Koval, died from her injuries.

The autopsy confirmed that the death was a homicide. Sofía's father, the victim's son, remembered his mother as a kind person and always willing to help.

Johnson, a family friend, said the attack was “something out of character” for the teenager, who has faced difficulties being separated from her mother, who lives in the United Kingdom.

Johnson explained that Sofía has been dealing with a complex emotional situation, according to American news portals.

In court, Sofia's father described the case as a “very, very difficult situation,” mourning the loss of both his mother and daughter, and expressed his support for the plea agreement reached, thanking the legal teams and the judge for his handling of the case.

Despite now having a record as an adult, Sofia received juvenile sanctions as part of a plea deal.

The sentence, handed down by Judge Thomas Coleman in adult court, establishes that if the young woman fails to comply with the terms of her sentence, she could face up to 15 years in adult prison.

Since her arrest, Koval has remained in custody, and charges of involuntary manslaughter were formally filed on Oct. 1 of this year.