Man detained in Riga on suspicion of fatally beating a relative

The State Police on 5 November detained a man born in 1978 in an apartment in central Riga on suspicion of intentionally inflicting serious bodily harm on an elderly female relative, which resulted in her death. On 7 November a court imposed a preventive measure on the suspect: pre-trial detention.

The scene

Police received a call about the death of a woman of retirement age. Officers arriving at the apartment found her lying dead on the floor with clear signs of a violent death. The woman's relative, who lived in the same household, was detained on the spot.

According to police, the suspect himself called the emergency services. A breath test showed an alcohol concentration of 2.7 per mille.

The investigation

Current information indicates the woman died of polytrauma inflicted by the relative, who struck her several times. A criminal case has been opened in the first division of the first bureau of the Criminal Police Department of the State Police's Riga Region Administration, under Article 125, Part 3 of the Criminal Law. It covers intentional infliction of serious bodily harm that, through the offender's negligence, caused the victim's death.

The offence carries a prison sentence of three to 15 years, with or without confiscation of property, and probation supervision of up to three years or none.

Police are still working to establish the motive. As the investigation proceeds, the case may be reclassified under a different article.