Novi Sad: Mother, Father Held After 1-Year-Old Girl's Death
The mother, A. S. (33), is suspected of aggravated murder of her one-year-old daughter, and the father of failing to help. Both are held for up to 48 hours pending questioning by prosecutors.
The death of a one-year-old girl in Novi Sad on the evening of November 2 has reached the prosecutors. On November 4, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad announced that her mother, A. S. (33), is suspected of aggravated murder, and her father, T. S., born in 1972, of failing to provide assistance. Both parents have been ordered held for up to 48 hours.
What is the mother suspected of?
According to the prosecutor’s statement, A. S. is suspected of striking the girl several times on the body, causing the child’s death. For aggravated murder, Serbia’s Criminal Code prescribes a prison sentence of at least ten years or life imprisonment.
For now this is only a suspicion. Until a final verdict, the suspect is presumed innocent.
What is the father suspected of?
T. S. is suspected of the criminal offense of failing to provide assistance, which carries a sentence of three months to five years in prison. The part of the statement that media have reported does not specify what exactly he is accused of failing to do.
What was done at the scene?
The on-duty public prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad went to the scene and conducted an on-site investigation. The prosecutor then ordered police to collect all physical evidence and traces so they could be used in further forensic examinations and analyses.
What is being reported unofficially?
According to unofficial information, the mother beat the girl on the body and head with a belt and a blunt wooden object. The prosecutor’s office has not confirmed this, and no such details appear in its statement.
The same unofficial accounts say the suspect tried, in her defense, to shift responsibility onto her eleven-year-old daughter from a first marriage. That has not been officially confirmed either. Because of the age of the child being pointed at, we go no further here, and the suspect’s account will be assessed by the prosecutor’s office, not by the media.
What happens next in the proceedings?
Within the legal deadline, both suspects will be brought in and questioned before the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, which will then decide on further procedural measures.
After the questioning, the prosecutor’s office will carry out the necessary evidentiary actions during the investigation in order to reach a lawful decision, and the public will, as announced, be informed about the course of the proceedings.
Until then, the only thing officially known is what is stated in the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office statement published on November 4, 2026, two days after the girl’s death. Open questions, such as the cause of death established by forensic examination and the exact role of the father, have not yet been clarified by the prosecutor’s office.
