Teenager Formally Charged in Grandmother's Murder; Psychiatric Evaluation Ordered

A 13-year-old girl has been formally charged with the murder of her 81-year-old grandmother, who was found stabbed ten times. The prosecution has classified the act as "homicide especially aggravated by kinship, very especially aggravated by impulse of brutal ferocity, and generically aggravated by the abuse of superiority of arms, as the perpetrator."

Following a psychiatric evaluation of the minor, a judge ordered her transfer to the Hospital Pediátrico del Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell for an assessment of her need for hospitalization. While undergoing this evaluation and the ongoing investigation, she will be under the custody of the National Institute for Social Inclusion of Adolescents (Inisa). Upon discharge, she will be transferred to Inisa to serve a 150-day precautionary detention period.

Initial reports from the family indicated the teenager had been admitted to a mental health clinic and subsequently escaped, going to live with her grandmother. Family members also stated she suffers from schizophrenia. The psychiatric assessment aims to determine if the adolescent understands the scope of her actions or if she could be declared legally unaccountable. She had previously been in a 24-hour protection center run by the Uruguayan Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU) due to family circumstances that did not guarantee her care. A judicial authorization allowed her to move in with her father and grandmother over a month before the homicide. INAU sources stated they were unaware of any prior violent episodes from the adolescent. The investigation is ongoing, with a focus on her mobile phone for potential clues.