A Five-Year Prison Sentence in a Torrevieja Case Involving a Daughter and Her 78-Year-Old Mother
The County Court handed down a five-year prison term to a Lithuanian national of Russian descent for the death of her mother in Torrevieja. The case originally faced trial before a popular jury in Elche at the end of July, with both prosecution and defense initially seeking a 26-year sentence. Ultimately, an agreement was reached that altered the murder charge to homicide, allowing the court to apply a series of mitigations and reductions, including an admission of guilt, a late confession, and a plea influenced by kinship ties that weighed on the sentencing.
The factual center of the ruling traces back to June 2021 in Torrevieja, with the court head, Francisco Xavier Saravia, presiding as the facts were established.
The Rope and the Moment Before the Tragedy
The defendant, born in Russia but holding Lithuanian nationality, planned to end her mother’s life at their shared home on Sal de Torrevieja Street. The plan involved using a rope purchased from a local hardware store located on the same street. The rope, 25 meters in length and five millimeters thick, was bought the day before the incident. The following afternoon, June 3, the two spent time on the terrace drinking vodka, after which the mother lay down on her bed to rest in what the court described as a private moment before the events unfolded in the late afternoon.
According to the conviction, the defendant exploited her mother’s vulnerability and alcohol consumption. Heavier circumstances included the physical tool she had bought, which the defendant used to choke her mother with the intent to end her life. The record states that the intent was explicit: to use the rope to suffocate her mother, leading to her death.
The court attributed death to acute pulmonary edema caused by mechanical asphyxia and respiratory failure, likely resulting from the obstruction of breathing passages during the strangulation.
Evidence Found at the Scene
Police teams located the blood-stained rope used in the strangulation in the living room during a search conducted by Civil Guards after the crime. The attempted disposal of the rope’s wrapping material in a garbage container and a vodka bottle found in the kitchen were also noted as part of the investigation.
Defense and Mental Health Considerations
The court’s decision acknowledged that the defendant suffered a mental health episode at the time of the crimes, described as a psychotic break that diminished but did not entirely erase her cognitive and volitional capacities. These factors contributed to the sentencing framework, alongside considerations related to the defendant’s behavior after the events and the timing of the confession.
At the Elche courthouse, the defendant appeared on July 27 with her attorney, signing the agreement protocol with the prosecution. She admitted guilt regarding her mother’s death and waived any appeal against the sentence, which reflected the combined effects of mental health considerations, the admission of guilt, the late confession, and the kinship context in the case.