Mother ordered her 13-year-old son to kill his grandmother: court issued a ruling regarding the teenager

In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the court applied coercive educational measures to a teenager who, at the age of 13, on his mother’s instruction, killed his grandmother. The boy was sent to a special educational institution for a three-year term. The corresponding decision was made on August 18 2026 by Halytskyi District Court of the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The circumstances of the crime are described in the court ruling No.139086532.

As the court established, the family moved to Burshtyn from the Dnipropetrovsk region. The boy’s grandmother, a 65-year-old native of Donetsk, also settled in the town and helped care for the children. According to the case materials, on the evening of September 24, 2025 the mother told her son that necessary to kill the grandmother and take her money to pay off debts. The woman gave the child a shoelace and explained how to strangle a person with it.

The next day the mother, together with her son, went to the victim’s apartment allegedly to collect clothes they had left for washing. When the grandmother turned her back, on the mother’s signal the boy threw the shoelace around her neck. While the child was strangling the woman, the mother searched the apartment for money and ordered her son to tighten the shoelace harder. Later she brought a knife from the kitchen, showed how to deliver blows, and ordered him to “finish off” the victim.

According to the court, a total of $3,000 and 13,000 hryvnias were taken from the apartment. After the crime the boy changed the bloodstained T-shirt, and the mother went with him to the exchange office. The woman gave part of the money to an acquaintance to whom she owed money. Already on September 26 the mother herself called the police and reported that she could not reach her mother-in-law. Police officers found the woman’s body in the apartment with signs of a violent death.

As the Ivano-Frankivsk police reported, investigators established the involvement of the caller herself — a 33-year-old native of Dnipropetrovsk. She was detained and notified of suspicion of intentional murder for mercenary motives under clause 6 part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court remanded her in custody as a preventive measure.

During the trial the boy explained that he was afraid of his mother because she allegedly systematically punished him and used physical violence. A psychological examination confirmed that the child was under the direct psychological and physical influence of his mother.

“He believes that the grandmother was killed because the mother needed money. He regrets that his grandmother died,” — states the case materials.

At the time of the crime the boy was 13 years old, while criminal liability for intentional murder begins at 14 years. Therefore the court did not impose criminal punishment on him, but applied a coercive educational measure. The teenager was sent to a special educational institution for a three-year term. The time he spent in the reception-distribution center from September 30, 2025 will be counted toward this term. Proceedings against the boy’s mother were separated into a separate case. The final decision on her guilt must be made by the court.

Reminder, earlier we wrote:

• Poisoned a soldier on instructions from Telegram? A 17-year-old girl was detained in Zhytomyr region
• In Mykolaiv, a boy asked to be removed from his family due to cruel treatment
• In Lutsk, a mother sold her 6-year-old son for $25,000
• Father stabbed and burned his 3-year-old son out of jealousy — a horrific case in Poltava region
• Toddler died in hospital: the stepmother who beat him to death was taken into custody