The Sverdlovsk Regional Court found Yekaterinburg resident Natalya Guseva guilty of the intentional murder of her 3-year-old son, Alisher. According to the court verdict, the woman was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment. According to investigators, in April 2025, the mother broke the child's leg, and after he was discharged from the hospital, she beat him to death.
During the trial, the defendant and her lawyer, Alexander Kozlov, did not admit guilt, claiming that the crime was committed by the woman's acquaintance, migrant Shamsullo Yangiev. The defense argued that the child might have been beaten by Yangiev because he interfered with being alone with the mother. The lawyer tried to draw attention to the fact that the injuries were inflicted with the left hand and that Yangiev is left-handed.
However, according to the investigation's findings, the child was beaten by his mother. According to the expert report, the child's injuries (a ruptured liver and ribs puncturing the lungs) were caused by severe blows. At the time, due to a cast on his leg, the child could not defend himself.
It is worth noting that in early 2026, a jury acquitted the woman, but the prosecutor's office managed to get the case retried. On the second attempt, the woman could not prove her innocence, and the court sentenced her to 16 years in prison.
