Six-Year-Old Child Found Dead with Stab Wounds in Sofia Flat; the Father Also Found Dead

A six-year-old child has been found dead with multiple stab wounds in a flat in Sofia's Mladost district. The child's 40-year-old father was also found dead after jumping from the fifth floor of the residential building, also with stab wounds.

The father and child lived in the flat together with the father's parents. Two years ago, the father was admitted to a mental health centre following a report that he had been behaving aggressively.

Four emergency calls were made to the 112 emergency number within just seven minutes. The first was at 11:17am, on September 16, reporting that a man had jumped from the fifth floor and was bleeding. At 11:24am, a second call was made by a neighbour reporting that the man had no vital signs. Between those two calls, at 11:18am, the child's grandmother called to report that the child was having a seizure and had a stab wound. At 11:24am, another call was made reporting that the child showed no signs of life.

• Brutal murder of a 6-year-old child in the “Mladost” 3 neighbourhood of Sofia

Commissioner Nikolay Peltelkov, Director of the Sofia Regional Police Directorate: "The grandmother left the flat for about 10-15 minutes and went to a nearby shop to buy some things. When she returned, she found her grandson in the condition described in the calls she made. What she can say is that this morning the grandmother called the child's kindergarten teacher and said that the child would not be attending kindergarten for personal reasons, without specifying what they were."

It is known that the father had suffered from a mental health disorder, reportedly related to the use of medication or alcohol.

Commissioner Radostin Angelov, head of the Seventh District Police Department: "In 2023, there was a report that the man had been behaving aggressively. When a police team arrived, he was taken to the mental health centre, where he was admitted for treatment."

Commissioner Nikolay Peltikov, Director of the Sofia Regional Police Directorate: "After that, he regularly took the medication prescribed to him and there were no signs that he was displaying aggression or any other conditions that could pose a threat to his life, the lives of his relatives or his neighbours."

People living in the area said they had seen the father and child every day.

Antonia: "The child was taken out for walks calmly; he never shouted at him. I can absolutely say the opposite in this case. He was very calm – too calm even. As I said, we saw them every day, walking together. The child was well cared for, even excessively so."

The child's mother left the family three years ago and has not maintained contact with them since.