Grbavica Killing: Son, 21, Arrested for Stabbing Mother

Police have arrested a young man, A. B. (21), from Novi Sad, on suspicion of stabbing his mother to death in an apartment in Grbavica. The killing happened overnight between September 18 and 19, in a building at 66 Aleksa Santic Street. Grbavica is a densely populated part of Novi Sad, and the building where the killing took place sits close to the city center.

When exactly did the killing happen?

Sources disagree on the exact timing. A report of loud shouting and a disturbance coming from the apartment reached police in the early morning hours. Zvornik Danas states the call came in around 3 a.m., while the portal 021 writes that the incident took place around 4 a.m. Republika, citing the Institute for Emergency Medicine, reports that an ambulance was called at 3:22 a.m., and that paramedics arriving on the scene found a woman with multiple stab wounds. Attempts to resuscitate her failed.

Accounts of the victim’s age also differ. According to 021 and Zvornik Danas, the woman was 49. Republika reports she was 57. Outlets agree that her initials were Lj. B., and that she lived alone with her son in the Grbavica apartment.

In statements to the media, neighbors describe the mother only in positive terms, as a kind and cheerful woman. About the son, however, they speak with unease, mentioning his strange, sullen demeanor in the period before the killing.

According to unofficial information, the young man opened the door without hesitation as soon as police knocked, and immediately admitted to killing his mother. Police led him out of the building that morning in his underwear, handcuffed, and took him to the station.

What the neighbors say

As Republika reports, one resident of the building on Aleksa Santic Street described the situation to the RINA news agency:

“There was noise, shouting, loud enough that it woke up the neighbors. We called the police right away. As we heard it, the suspect opened the door and immediately admitted that he had killed his mother. He was then taken away.”

A neighbor of the suspect, Republika further reports, described his behavior in the period before the killing to the newspaper Blic:

“He was always sullen, he didn’t even know how to say good morning. He was constantly playing those games, bloody games, and even his mother complained about him. What happened is terrible.”

That is, based on what is known so far, the only mention of a possible trigger for the conflict: the mother’s dissatisfaction with her son’s behavior. No official motive for the killing has been announced.

Media cite a knife as the weapon, while an official forensic examination of the circumstances of the attack is still to come. The suspect was taken to a police station, where, following standard procedure, he is being questioned before the competent prosecutor. If the prosecution proposes detention after the questioning, the decision rests with the court in pre-investigation proceedings; at this stage, detention can by law last up to 30 days, which is standard in proceedings for serious criminal offenses while an investigation is underway. Until a final verdict, A. B. remains a suspect, not a convicted man, and is charged with the criminal offense of murder.

This is an entirely separate incident, unrelated to the earlier knife attack near Trg Galerija in Novi Sad.

The investigation into the exact circumstances of the killing and any possible motive is, based on the information available, still at an early stage. Neither the Ministry of Interior (MUP) nor the competent prosecutor’s office had issued an official statement on the case by the time of publication.