Prokuplje prosecutors seek 15 years for killing of mother

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Prokuplje has indicted M. S. from the village of Nova Bozurna, near Prokuplje, for killing his mother. Prosecutors are asking for a sentence of 15 years in prison and an extension of his pretrial detention.

What does the indictment against M. S. say?

The indictment was filed with the Higher Court in Prokuplje. The defendant is charged with murder under Article 113, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. Prosecutors say that on July 4, 2026, he killed his mother, G. S., in the family home where they lived together. According to the allegations, he stabbed her with a knife while she slept, then called police in Prokuplje himself and reported the crime.

Sources differ on the timing and the ages involved. The indictment gives July 4, while Nova.rs wrote in July about the night between July 4 and 5. The same paper described M. S. as 41 years old, but the prosecution statement it cites says he is 40. According to that report, his mother was 69.

The proposed sentence is the harshest the law allows for this offense. Murder carries a range of five to 15 years in prison.

Why are prosecutors seeking the maximum sentence?

Higher Public Prosecutor Nikola Naskovic said that in a little over three months the office gathered all the evidence it considered necessary and sufficient to establish the full circumstances of the event. In his words, the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the manner in which the crime was committed in particular, justify a proposal for “the most severe sentence prescribed by law.” Prosecutors want detention extended because, as they put it, public unrest is still continuing.

What happened after the killing?

Prosecutors questioned M. S. on July 5, 2026. He gave his defense at the time, and the prosecution said it would be checked in the further investigation, among other things. At prosecutors’ request, the Higher Court in Prokuplje ordered detention of up to 30 days.

After the killing, the victim’s daughter said she had reported her brother to police: “I reported him to the police countless times because he beat our mother.” She added: “Nobody did anything until he slit our mother’s throat, and he did it while she was sleeping.” Kurir reports in its article that those complaints were never processed, but the prosecutor’s statements do not mention any earlier reports.

A neighbor who did not want to be named described life in the house: “There was never peace in that house, you could always hear shouting and arguments.”

The Higher Court in Prokuplje will decide on the indictment. Until a final verdict, the defendant is presumed innocent.